Passing Shadows
by Moonlight and Mischief
Summary: The stories of past, future and in between. Set in the Life Sentence universe
1. ‘she implies by not blinking…’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To every person who liked and reviewed _Subjugation_ and _Life Sentence_, especially the ones who thought the idea of one-shots would be nice. You rock.

Note: Pretty fast huh? Like lightening fast! Actually, I had most of this done before I even posted the last chapter since I had to wait for my beta to move before she could finish reading over the last bit so I could post. I finished it and started _another_ in a mad fury of bad mood because fanfiction soothes the soul.

There are three things of note with this little series:

1. They are loosely going to be taken from the prompts given at the 30 Kisses LJ community. I'd imagined doing around that many so I thought I'd take inspiration from there. I'm all about inspiration.

2. Since I'm horrible at giving stuff up and supposedly somewhere I'm still a Catholic, I've decided to take up structured writing for Lent (such a punishment right? Also starting to go to the gym every other day...there is the real sacrifice). I am going to _try_ and post a new chapter every WEEKDAY of Lent. That equates to 33 total. This way there are daily updates of hopefully good stuff and I get it over with soon so I can work on other things.

3. For the sake of my warped humor, all chapter titles will be taken from quotes from each character (when able). There will be a couple exceptions but...yeah.

Please enjoy

* * *

Prompt: perfect blue

'**she implies by not blinking when she's talking to you' **

As an only child, he'd always craved siblings of some sort. The closest thing he'd had to them growing up had been Aidan and Winter. Five years older and a more than certified genius, Aidan had more played the part of idol and mentor than the ideal older brother, especially when he insisted on calling him by title in mixed company. And Winter…Winter had always been a _girl_. He'd known that night when they had last heard their mothers that she would be the one he'd eventually marry.

Preciousness was a genetic trait of the Hellsing line.

Through the years, his education and upbringing kept him from worrying over what he lacked in a family. Then, one day, a month after his father's death, he realized that some part of him had always been waiting for his father to have another child, to give him a brother or a sister. The realization that his family was completely gone struck him hard that night and for the first time since his early childhood, he cried.

Yet, the night passed and the pressures of his role fell heavy on his shoulders. Winter and Aidan had stepped up to help him establish his foothold in an institution full of hardened veterans who saw him as a too young leader. It was then that the last hopes of even surrogate siblings fell to the wayside as both took up arms as soldiers in his army forcing distance in a bond that had always been close. He knew it was a show of support and respect. He appreciated it and even joked about Aidan's preference as a rank and file soldier instead of the higher rank advisor he should have been.

He felt alienated.

That's how he found her.

Frequently, his father had referred to the journals of their forebearers, a side commentary to a lecture or an answer to a pointed question about how such and such did something at a particular time. It had become evident that even while his father kept a journal for the sake of tradition, he'd never read them. His lack of interest had doused Elliot's so it wasn't until the end of his eighteenth year that he dug them out of their storage box and began reading in a desperate reach for some connection to his family.

_"binding ritual… experiments…pet vampire… purposefully enraging…calculating insanity…incomparable violent force…amazing insight…avenging angel…Hellsing's savior…unwavering dedication…Hellsing's vampire…"_

Short references had turned into quick treaties that had evolved into detailed analysis. The commentary had mutated from scathing comments on a deranged animal to a psychotic killer and then, weirdly, to a wise council and then, in the years of his great-grandmother, a companion and savior. The early entries were so drastically different from the latter that at first it gave him pause. After a month of perusal, he began to rationalize that hundreds of years of life would change anyone over time. It was the final writings that mattered most. They described someone dedicated and devoted to the Hellsing family not just trapped to it.

_"she really did save us, in the end…"_

**~x~**

"Are you sure you want to do this, Elliot?"

"Well, Winter, I don't know about you, but I think we need a little help and people aren't exactly clamoring for the job."

"…. You're the leader."

"Yes…I guess I am."

-**~x~**

He could never say later what he'd been expecting. The reality of two vampires had solved a few mysteries and he had immediately shied away from the psychotic killer that had been described in gruesome detail. His eyes had fixed on the almost mournful figure of the woman attached to the wall. His determination had wavered but still, when she had taken his blood and come to life, when she had placed the gun of his great-grandmother in his hand and paid silent homage to her companion all without an expression on her face, his emotions had twisted into something else.

He felt like crying.

-**~x~**

Her dedication had been absolute. She truly was an avenging angel and a savior to the soldiers of the Hellsing Institute. She swooped in and spared lives and destroyed foes. When she was asked to lead those men into hell, she stood straight and dove into the fray. When she was asked to train those soldiers, she dedicated her time and skills to the task. When she was asked to play Reaper of Souls and Angel of Death, she rose to the occasion without question. She was the perfect soldier.

-**~x~**

She started seeking him out when he was by himself. Her appearances were at first subtle, often in the space after a meeting. She would come to his study as he stared into the hearth fire, thoughts pressing ever downward on his stressed shoulders. Most times he couldn't guess when she actually arrived, so silent was her arrival. It wasn't until he unconsciously addressed a question to her that he would even realize her presence.

Her answers were always honest and thoughtful. She used her long life and experience to guide him in the choices forced upon him. Never, though, were her answers absolute or colored with any emotion that she might have felt when reflecting upon the similar circumstances that created her answers. She became his wise and impartial advisor.

Until, one day, she came to him when he had no solid question to ask and no real need for counsel. She came and sat in her usual chair in silence. Her air was unexpectant and for once her lack of emotions invoked calm instead of curiosity. She was simply there.

For a long while, the only sound in the room was the soft crackle of a fire trying to warm the cold stones of the ancient fortress. It was a comfortable silence that allowed him to fall into his thoughts with an ease he hadn't felt in years. And it was then, when his thoughts idly tripped from one subject to another, that he realized the truth.

It was reassurance.

Her silence was unexpectant because she had no reason to be there except that somehow she knew he wanted – needed – someone else to be there. He needed someone to silently stand at his shoulder and let him know that they would be there and things would be okay.

She would be there. She would protect him and the institution he struggled to lead.

And, for the first time in years, he let himself relax.

**~x~**

He didn't particularly like Alucard. The damn vampire tried to be annoying at every turn and reveled in the violence that he'd spent most of his life trying to minimize. Even if he was an ancient warlord who understood the art of war and could predict the tactics of every foe that they faced, he was still a necessary evil in Elliot's mind most days.

Until the day Seras made her first joke in his presence.

On that day, he understood what it was for a brother to accept the rough and ready boyfriend his sister brought home.

All to make her happy.

**~x~**

He watched the airlift fly away and stared at it long after it was gone. When it was far past a speck in the sky, he turned and walked with purpose to his own transport. For the first time since he woke Alucard, he went back to the ruins of his ancestral home. His path was aimless as he combed through the halls. He knew very little of what the interior had once held but when he opened a door into a wide room with checkered tile floor, a memory sparked and he walked in further.

The walls were charred in fire and riddled with holes and destruction. Several portraits hung askew on the wall and others leaned against the remains of brutalized furniture and others were stacked in piles. A quick perusal told him that these were the more personal portraits of the Hellsing family. Something told him he had found what he was looking for.

When he saw it, he gasped.

Several of the paintings on the floor had showed the pet vampire of the Hellsing family standing with the current leader of the institute. They were cold paintings lacking any warmth of emotion aside of the small humor that curved the lips of the master vampire. But this one was different.

Staring back at him were two sets of blue eyes. The painter had been a master and had captured perfectly the emotion of the moment and the aura of the two as the one stood behind the other. These two were beyond master and servant. They had a bond greater than that. Seras' eyes twinkled with a happy devotion borne of true affection and his ancestor gleamed with a light of a similar nature.

Something told him, as he stared at the portrait, that his ancestor had loved her pet vampire as a sister. That she would have done a great deal to make sure those eyes shone with that same happy glow.

A sentiment he realized he very much shared.

**~x~**

He found Sir Integra's personal diary inside the painting. He brought both home and began to read through the volume, somewhat horrified at the detailed descriptions of the horrors his great-grandmother had suffered. As he turned the pages, the accounts began to soften and develop warmth as she discussed the vampires of Hellsing. While it disturbed him slightly to hear about the very weird relationship between her and Alucard, it was worth going through to read about Seras from the beginning.

It kept him company as he waited, trying with every ounce of effort he could muster, to not think about how his entire family was in a foreign company facing death in a place he could not reach.

It kept him company through the long day and as he read Integra's growing doubts about her son, the phone rang.

They were coming home.

**~x~**

They were safe and home.

Well…Aidan was hurt but.…

Alucard plucked her from the craft and even though she was dressed in a way she would never normally choose and her hair was unbound and her face held such expression as to transform it so completely, he knew it was her.

Her eyes were a dazzling, sparkling blue.

All the tension left his shoulders and a grin grew wildly on his face.

"Seras!"

**~x~**

His family came home.

* * *

AN: Please leave feedback. It's like crack! .

Til next time!


	2. ‘primarily because I like the sound’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my Beta, Syrenity, who, when asked who she wanted to hear about first, said Winter in about two seconds.

Note: I looked at the prompt and thought of Winter because I when I thought of her, she always came out as the best of the best in fighting second only tot he scary things of the night. And her dad was the same.

In the end, though, it kinda became about the title of the chapter which I chose first somewhat at random.

Thanks to those who already reviewed especially Random Romantasist 999 who seemed thrilled at being the first review.

AAAnd...I already have another written but I think I'm going to post a different one tomorrow...either way, there WILL be one tomorrow too. ^_^

* * *

Prompt: invincible, unrivaled

'**primarily because I like the sound'**

Her father had witnessed the death of his parents at the hand of a freak vampire. His immediate reaction had been to decapitate it with the dual ended spear his father had crafted for a client a few days prior. He'd been thirteen at the time. The client had been turned into a ghoul.

He kept the weapon.

**~x~**

"Charlie found me when I was fifteen," he used to tell her in the years following her mother's death and their family had lost the third that was reasonably sane. "He'd heard about my strange hobby all the way from here and traveled almost immediately to County Wicklow to find me. He looked at me up and down and asked me if I was James Shannon."

"And you said that you were," Winter would chime in in her usual way with all the matter of factness that a six-year-old could have.

"And he said, 'Well then, I have a job for you.'"

"And you came here and went to school and then you met Mam and got married and had me."

"In brief, yes."

"And you met Mam at a ball, like Cinderella."

He would chuckle and brush her dark hair from her eyes. "Something like that."

"And you lived happily ever after?"

With a sad smile, he would always kiss her on the head and wish her a goodnight, leaving the room without replying.

After a while, she stopped asking.

**~x~**

"Did you ever think of leaving when Mam died?"

"I only had more reason to stay."

**~x~**

"She is just a child, Jamie! How _could_ you train her to be some sort of killing machine?"

"What would you have me do, Colleen? Are you telling me I should raise her helpless just because she's a girl? Would you do that to Aidan?"

"Well, no, but so young? She's only _just _four!"

"And how old was she when they broke into a fortress and killed her mother, your sister? How old was Bridget when they broke in and brutally murdered her and Aislinn in front of their children?"

"Just…please, Jamie, don't make her life about death. She is a bright and happy girl. Please, for Bridget's sake…let her _live._"

**~x~**

"Do you ever regret the way I've raised you, Wynnie?"

She lowered her arm, halting her action to throw the curved blade she'd dubbed Serenity, and turned to look at her father.

"I mean, that I didn't raise you like a girl."

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Do you mean that or are you just saying it to make your old man feel better?"

With a grin, she put the weapon on a nearby table and walked over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Da, do you think I'd lie about something like that?" She pulled away to look at him. "I mean, yeah, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to paint my nails with my girlfriends or go shopping or gush about boys but…I don't really think it suits me that much." She shrugged again. "In the end, I think I'd've ended up much like this even if Mam had lived."

"You mean a sixteen-year-old who is single-handedly able to take out most vampires and ghouls without thought?"

"Yep."

He grinned before picking up a short sword and tossing it to her and grabbing another. He led them into a circle painted on the ground. They both assumed a fighting stance before he paused and let out a short laugh.

"What?"

"How bout, just to make your Mam and Colleen happy, we enroll you in some dance lessons."

She considered for a moment before a mischievous twinkle lit in her eyes.

"Only if you win."

**~x~**

She'd been away from home for over a month. Their fathers had decided that a lifetime of bloodshed and violence was too much for their children. An extended tour of the Continent, the Grand Tour from the days of old.

"Don't bother with the communicators, Wynnie. Be old fashioned and send me postcards. You hear enough of your old man when you are here."

"But I _like_ hearing from you, Da."

He'd smiled sadly and gave her a quick squeeze. "Let this be about you, sweetheart. All too soon your life will be only about death. Live a little while you are young."

"I love you, Da. I wouldn't have life any other way."

"I love you, too, Wynnie. Enough to see that this is not the life I should have given you."

She'd squeezed him tightly before boarding the airlift and flying away to lands far and wide. It had been a fun trip of exciting strangeness and laughter. Aidan had tried hard not to shoulder responsibility and Elliot had relaxed enough to immerse himself in a few of the local customs.

It had been a grand time.

When they'd returned, life had shattered.

**~x~**

"It was revenge."

"It was a calculating plot to rid the country of the one thing stopping them from taking over."

"Does it really matter what it was? We lost a lot of good men and two of England's finest."

"What does the Queen have to say about it?"

"She's commanded that the boy take over the institution. Younger than he have done it."

"Poor boy."

"The girl, too."

"What a thing to come home to."

**~x~**

Later, she would wonder if her father had somehow known. If he'd understood how important it later became that she was able to see his expression as he spoke to her the last time. How she cherished the exchange, undiluted by the distance of a phone.

They had said goodbye as if it were going to be the last. She wondered if he'd known.

If she'd had, she would have done more.

Anything but let slip the last time she'd ever hear his voice.

**~x~**

It was during the reconstruction that Elliot came to her silently. She looked at him curiously, will to rise being combated by the painful swelling of her ankles. He didn't give her a chance, really, but crossed the room quickly to kneel beside her and quietly put his ear to her stomach.

She watched in silence as he sat there, unmoving, for more than a minute before standing up and smiling at her sadly. She frowned in concern and he opened his mouth, as if to answer before shutting it again and shaking his head. Instead, he took her hand and placed a small device in it before dropping a quick kiss on her head and leaving the room as quietly as he had come.

Lost, she looked down at the small device and pushed the play button. Almost immediately, she could feel the warm tickling sensation of a tear rolling slowly down her cheek. She made no move to wipe it away as it fell and others accompanied it.

She sat and she listened until the device stopped.

And then she pushed play again.

**~x~**

"Come on, Charlie, I think we should betroth the two to each other, like in the old days."

"It's always about the old days with you, Jamie."

"They were better."

"Don't you think _they_ should have any say in the matter?"

"Be serious, your Elliot is as stuck on my Wynnie as you were stuck on Aislinn."

"And you on Bridget?"

"Just so."

"And we shouldn't just let them get together on their own why?"

"Because, Charlie, we won't be around forever. I want someone to take care of her when I'm gone."

"…I'm sure it would be Elliot's honor."

"Good."

"Not to complain, Jamie, but she's only five years old. Why are you worrying about that now when there are a hundred other things both of us should be doing?"

"Because, Charlie, she's the only thing that matters."

* * *

AN: Thanks for the previous crack reviews. I find it absolutely amazing that people like my weird side characters enough to give a damn about them after the story is done. Makes me want to go work on my publishable stories. Meh. We'll see. This totally rocks better.

Til next time!


	3. ‘still scary as hell though’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Dragowolf who requested seeing a moodswinging pregnant Winter. Hope this satisfies. And to anyone who has had the dubious pleasure of being pregnant. It's not always fun.

* * *

Prompt: cradle

**'still scary as hell though'**

First Month:

"Elliot, I know we live in a life where dying is possible at any moment and you want to protect the baby but locking me up in the dungeon is not gonna work. You can't do it."

"Watch me."

Second Month:

"I don't know how much longer I can take the constant nausea and exhaustion."

"Having a vampire constantly feeding on you _can_ be draining."

"Alucard! My baby is _not_ a vampire! …And that was a _horrible_ pun."

"It survives by draining nutrients from your blood."

"But that's not all it…but…Seras!"

"…Yes?"

"Take him away before I kill him."

"Stop torturing the pregnant woman, Master."

"She's such an easy target though."

Third Month:

"You know, Winter, you really aren't supposed to be lifting heft objects."

"Shut up, Aidan."

"Don't you think throwing ancient armaments constitutes as heavy lifting?"

"Do you want me to throw them at _you_ then?"

"…You _really_ need to find an alternate method of stress relief, coz."

"Shut up, go away or join in."

"Well, as long as we don't tell Elliot…."

"Or Alucard."

"But holes in the wall are fun!"

Fourth Month:

"I think there might be something wrong with me, Seras?"

"Why?"

"I think I've lost weight."

"Well, you haven't been eating."

"And I keep sleeping all day."

"But you've been up most of the nights."

"And I think the only nutrition I've been able to keep down is that stupid liquid diet drink my doctor gave me."

"Sounds like something I've heard of, little one."

"And what would that be, Master?"

"Losing weight, energy only from liquids, sleeping all day. Vampire."

"Alucard!"

Fifth Month:

"Did you see that sandwich I was eating?"

"I ate it."

"But it was mine!"

"And?"

"Didn't you just finish a three course meal with the Queen?"

"I repeat, and?"

"Does that mean I can finish your brownie?"

"Only if you want to lose a hand."

"Alrighty than. Off to the kitchens."

"You might want to try the market."

Sixth Month:

"You really shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"And why is it any less likely for an I-beam to fall on your head than mine?"

"I can run faster than you can waddle."

"I _am_ armed, Elliot."

"I just don't understand why you have to be here to oversee things."

"It was my idea. I want to see it through."

"Why?"

"I'm nesting."

"You know, most women buy curtains and storage devices. They clean. You are rebuilding a mansion."

"This is why you love me. Everything on a grand scale."

Seventh Month:

"I think I scared the troops."

"Were you at the training exercises again? I told you to stay away from there. Anything could happen. Including stray bullets."

"I wasn't at the training fields."

"Did you get in another fight with Alucard? I know he's annoying but he's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"Alucard wasn't being particularly annoying."

"Then how did you scare them?"

"I cried."

"Umm…why?"

"Because Bambi's mom died."

Eight Month:

"Why is my wife in the shooting range when I told everyone to keep her out of there?"

"Because she threatened to shoot us."

"And why did that stop you?"

"Because of Alucard."

"And where is he?"

"On the floor. In a pool of blood. With most of a clip in his head."

"And what did he do?"

"Commented on her aim."

"And where was Seras during all this?"

"Laughing."

Ninth Month:

"I hate you."

"Aren't you supposed to be saying that to your husband?"

"No. I like him. He's nice to me. He rubs my feet."

"That is considerate considering he put you in this condition."

"You are mean to me."

"If I were overly nice, you'd think I was plotting something."

"…True."

"Want me to go fetch him for you?"

"No, I want you."

"How refreshing. However, I must say, it's too late to turn you into one of us. That ship has obviously sailed."

"Shut up and teleport me to the bathroom already."

"As my mistress wishes."

* * *

AN: This story got EATEN twice by that damnable word program. Majorly irritating. It is unbeta'd cause I have no patience and higher time constraints. Please let me know if you see any errors.

I hope you enjoy. It's my first time in a long time trying to do just pure humor.

Next one will be about Aidan. It will be the first one to not feature any of the canon cast (though it does mention the Hellsing Institute a lot). I wanted to post it today but I'm not quite done with it.

Thank you to all reviews so far. Glad to know that these little bits of story are providing entertainment and aren't just me writing everything I wasn't allowed to earlier. ^_^

Til next time!


	4. ‘I’m being extra annoying apurpose’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Metropolis Kid, who hounded, and made me want to post it earlier than I should.

Note: It's past midnight right? That counts as Monday, right? Yeah, this is unbeta'd so I apologize for any typos etc. Feel free to send me a note telling me what is wrong. This went in a really different...not direction...I guess mood is the best way of putting it. And I got really excited about it so...here it is!

Proof once more that people are just complicated.

* * *

Prompt: radio-cassette player

'**I'm being extra annoying apurpose'**

Most people didn't know he was a genius. It was easier that way. Growing up, his mother had put him in regular schools. Life was always too chaotic for the advanced classes and college credits they continued to offer him through the years. And, honestly, he preferred it that way. In an ordinary school, he could choose the role he played: the class clown, the ringleader, the outcast, the smart kid. With his analytical abilities and intuitive understanding of how people thought, he only needed to play the part.

It was all just a puzzle. You just had to know how to put the pieces together right to get the image to shift.

And he did.

**~x~**

"I know your secret."

Aidan looked up from where he sat under one of the school yard's trees, drawing specs on his latest project. Standing before him in twin braids and a plaid skirt was an eight-year-old girl, same as he, with shining red hair and sparkling green eyes that seemed to see straight through him.

"You got me, Maureen. I'm actually Superman."

She rolled those marvelous eyes before taking a step closer and kicking him in the shin.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You suck too much to be Superman."

He grinned up at her before climbing to his feet. "We'll see about that now won't we?"

She just watched as he brushed past her and walked away whistling a merry tune of unconcern. He was almost out of earshot when he caught her soft muttering.

"Superman doesn't lie all the time."

**~x~**

Girls never concerned him much. He had other things he needed to do.

**~x~**

For most of his youth, his parents preferred to live on his father's estate just outside of Dublin, but his mother's promise to his late aunt kept him travelling. Nearly every weekend, he found himself hustled to the Hellsing Institute so his cousin could receive some motherly love.

He couldn't say how old he was when he first began to understand the importance of the Hellsing Institute. They had been making regular visits since his Aunt Bridget first married his Uncle Jamie. In fact, most of his first memories were of the old Hellsing Manor. It had all just been part of his normal experience so he couldn't pinpoint a moment when he knew that greater things went on inside of those generations old stone walls.

He did remember the precise moment when he understood his part in all of it.

It was when he walked into the crumbling remains of that grand manor home at seven years of age and found Winter and Elliot clinging to each other as if the world would end if they let go. It was then that he understood his real role in life.

It was to protect them.

Ignoring the shouts of the men and the sobs of his mother, he walked up to the two toddlers and knelt on the ground beside them. They looked up at him in the motion and two pairs of blue eyes began to once more fill with tears in the seconds before the two launched themselves at him. Grunting slightly, he caught them in his small arms and held them close.

"Don't worry. I'm here."

**~x~**

"You know, if you aren't going to date anyone you really should stop flirting with all the girls like that."

He didn't even need to look up from his reconstruction project to know who had spoken. Wondering once more how she always managed to find his hiding spots, he smirked and screwed one of the delicate metal pieces down.

"Are you jealous, Maureen, that more boys don't flirt with you like that? Or perhaps that I don't flirt with you like I do with them?"

He heard her sigh and knew she was probably rolling her eyes as she slowly crossed the dim room lit only by the dusk filtering through the window. He eyed her briefly through the corner of his eye and was slightly started at how the orange light managed to caress her pale flesh and make her look like one of those faerie stories his Mam had told him in warning.

"Hardly. Though I think there are a few people who are curious about why you _don't _flirt with me when you do with everyone else."

He grinned as he carefully placed another screw. "That would be rather pointless since you'd know I wasn't serious. Where is the fun of charming someone who is likely to hit me if I flattered them?"

She chuckled softly but didn't comment. Instead, she stood next to the table in silence looking down at him as he worked. A quarter hour passed like that before he finally looked up at her.

"Are you expecting me to do something amazing, Lady Chastiser, or are you waiting for me to respond to your earlier comment with some sort of apology and abject embarrassment?"

She sighed in exasperation. "One day, you are going to break one of their hearts."

"Doubt it," he muttered, going back to work.

Another sigh and a moment of hesitant silence before she asked, cautiously, "Don't you ever feel like dating anyone, Aidan?"

"When I've got annoying friends like you?"

A loud thump resounded through the room and he almost dropped his screwdriver.

"Do you _have_ to hit me that hard?"

"Do you _have_ to be a jackass?"

He looked up at her, gaze tired and exasperated. "Maureen, would you prefer I lie to you? I'm not entirely sure _why_ you find it so much fun to haunt my weekday hours or why you think I'm worth hanging around, but I figure that is your own prerogative. I've given you the courtesy of something resembling friendship and my honesty. Stop punishing me for it."

She dropped his gaze for a moment before looking up to meet it again.

"Then, as a friend, can I say I'm worried about you?"

"Good Lord, _why_?"

"Aidan, you are fifteen years old. I've known you since we were _six_ and never once have I seen you try to be real friends to anyone or pay attention to anyone romantically, of either gender. That's not _normal_. I'm _concerned_. It's what friends _do_, you loser."

He looked at her for a long moment. As he stared, all the bits and pieces about himself that he knew he wasn't being honest about (even with himself) tried to push their way to the surface. He opened his mouth to say something before his rationality caught up with him again and he closed it.

Carefully placing the screwdriver on the table, he stood up and chucked her lightly on the chin before walking past her.

"I don't have time for friends and romance. I have more important things to do."

**~x~**

"Aidan, you kinda suck you know."

"Why thank you, my lady cousin, for that objective assessment. I'm _so_ glad that you could come stay with us for a week."

She grinned before taking his hand and dragging him to his feet to follow her to the lunch room.

"If you didn't want me to play visitor at your school, you could have said no."

He shrugged. "I thought it would be a good experience for you. Being homeschooled takes away a lot of the learning social interaction gives you."

"Aidan, you are seventeen, not fifty. Stop talking like that. It's creepy."

He grinned as he snagged both of them lunch and aimed their walking to one of the cafeteria tables.

"You are so flattering. You are twelve. Act like it. Be respectful of your elders. Especially elders that let you run around a secondary school with them."

"You are still my favorite cousin."

"I'm your only cousin."

"Which is why you are my favorite. Most of the time you are a prat."

He rolled his eyes as he sat down and took a bite of the tolerable food. "So full of love. Now, explain yourself, Deviltry. Why do I kinda suck?"

"You have no friends. No girlfriend. And the only thing you spend your time on is tutoring your twelve-year-old cousin and her friend and learning weapons training from my dad. I love you dearly, but you kinda suck."

Startled, he stared at her for a moment before smirking sadly.

"Don't worry about me, Deviltry. I'm just fine."

**~x~**

"Aren't you just gorgeous?"

The two cousins blinked at the newest person in the room. They had been sitting in companionable silence as Aidan worked on his project and Winter did the homework problems he set her when the pretty redhead entered with a grin.

"Not something I can say I've ever been called before."

"That's a shame," she said, entering the room unhurriedly. "You really are quite lovely. How old are you again?"

"Why thank you. I'm twelve. Who might you be?"

"I'm Maureen. I've been going to school with your idiot cousin for eleven years."

Winter grinned. "I'm sorry."

"So am I. So what are you studying? Do you need any help?"

As she spoke, she leaned over to look down at the work Winter had already done. Upon seeing them, she appeared startled and looked up at Winter again before glancing over at Aidan.

"Wow. These are pretty advanced. You are really something aren't you?"

The younger girl shrugged. "It's what Aidan makes me study."

"Aidan?"

"He's my tutor. Only on weekends, really, but we learn…other things on weekdays."

At her hesitant phrase, he chuckled softly, drawing the attention of the two girls to him momentarily. When Winter looked back at Maureen, she was startled to see an upset look on her face. Before she could ask, though, Aidan cut in.

"And as we are getting a bit of extra study time in, Madam Nosy, you think you could scurry along so she can get back to her work?"

Maureen sighed but nodded.

"Hit him if he gets mean," she threw over her shoulder as she walked out, giving a parting wink to Winter.

The silence returned for a few minutes before Winter stood up and leaned over Aidan's project, forcibly getting his attention.

"What?"

"You are pushing her away on purpose aren't you?"

He frowned, blue eyes clouding. "Don't worry about it, Wynne."

She sighed and straightened, for once looking down at him, her expression pained.

"You shouldn't do that, Aidan."

"Because it's mean?"

"Because one day, she might leave."

He stared at her, shocked, as the straightened and turned away, a sad smile on her face.

"Sometimes the people you love do that."

**~x~**

He didn't actually like killing. It was merely something he did well. Sometimes, he thought Elliot might be the same way and that gave him a little comfort. If a thirteen-year-old could accept his role as the future leader of an institute that spent its days elbow deep in gore, he could accept being an efficient murderer. He learned to live with it the same way he'd learned to live with being smarter than the kids in his class. Just another thing that made him special.

Some days, though, he hated it.

On days like those, he wondered if he were just a walking piece of flesh that moved at the will of fate, an automaton wound up to serve a specific purpose. Every aspect of his being, from his cunning to a natural athleticism, seemed to have been designed in order to make him a mastermind of death. A smart killer.

On days like those, he questioned if he had a soul.

**~x~**

"You have blood on your shirt, Aidan."

"I know."

He heard her shuffle further into the room but couldn't bring himself to break his gaze away from his little project, so near to completion.

"Should I assume it isn't yours then?"

"Yep."

She sighed, the soft sound echoing in the quiet room. The sound pressed in on him and he wondered, idly, at how halogen bulbs seemed to magnify sound when they were the only other emitting thing in the room. Something about the soft buzz in an otherwise empty room. It made everything feel cheap and senseless.

He went back to placing the tiny screw in place.

"Are you going to share with me the source?"

"It's more fun to leave you guessing, really. You get so feisty when I hold information back from you. Though, feisty usually turns to violent. Perhaps I _should_ share. My body is aching too much for any more killing blows."

A soft snort sounded by his ear before she moved, dragging a stool away from the table and perching on it casually. The soft buzz of the light reached his ears again as he strained his hearing, waiting for the next bit of commentary in their usual banter.

It didn't come.

Finally, he looked up at her. Her legs were crossed negligently as she leaned on one elbow and looked down at the almost completed device on the table. Her eyes, while focused, seemed distant and her smile was sad. He frowned.

"So no violence?"

She shook her head, dislodging a few stray hairs from behind her ear.

"I've just about given up on you, Aidan. After so many years, I've had no effect. I think I'm about done trying."

"So does that mean you are going to stop randomly showing up in my work space and issuing me moral rectitude lectures?"

Her smile briefly curled further at one side before fading again into bittersweetness.

"Probably."

The softly spoken word was almost like a physical blow. He looked away from her, back to his work, but couldn't calm himself. For years, all he'd wanted was for her to go away. To find someone else to bother. But she'd never given up on him, no matter how harsh or sarcastic he was to her.

With a short, uneven breath, he picked up a plastic casing and fit it to the finished interior of the device he'd been working on for years. He tried not to think about how he'd come to look forward to her brief almost daily visits or the sarcastic bantering they participated in during school. As he placed each tiny screw, he tried to ignore the realization that if she gave up on him, he would have no one left to talk to in his life that wasn't surrounded by death.

"I still don't know what this is, you know."

Her curious statement startled him slightly and he dropped his screwdriver. Throwing her an irritated look, he picked it up and went back to work.

"It is a radio-cassette player."

"What's that?"

"Well, a radio is a device they used to receive signals for music and news and other audio broadcasts."

"Yes, thank you, Aidan. I know what a radio is."

He grinned at her unabashedly. "You asked."

"I meant the cassette part, smartass."

"Cassettes were a type of storage device used only for audio recording. It was the first time a person could record audio with just the touch of a button. It was also the only device for several decades, even after the invention of things to replace it, that allowed people to go back and record over instantly."

"You say that like its special," she commented curiously.

He felt his smile fall into something more wistful.

"It was so easy for them to just push a button and rewind to the beginning. Push another button and they could record something new. A new beginning. They could start over just like that."

As his words fell into silence, he felt her eyes stare at him. He knew that if he looked up, he would find her staring at him in the same way he stared at every problem put to him. He was afraid of that look. Afraid that she might begin to see him for what he was.

"Why did you just spend several years creating an obsolete piece of technology from nothing?"

He placed the final screw and secured the final button before sitting up and looking her in the eye.

"Because, some days, I need to create something instead of destroying it."

* * *

An: First and foremost, don't kill me. Please? It was a really suck place to end the chapter but...yeah. I promise there will be more of this. From Maureen's point of view actually. Just hold with me and it'll finish.

Next one should be about Sakura. Poor girl, she kinda got shoved to the side through most of the story didn't she? Well, its her turn. She's got more background than you'd think.

Thanks for the reviews so far. Glad to know that people find these interesting.


	5. ‘I suppose you are here to kill us’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Note: I apologize in advance for the Japanese phrases. I only used a handful and most of them are pretty intuitive but I will define most of the in the bottom note. Sakura is from Japan so it just made sense to me. That and I spent money on those damn Japanese lessons I should use them right?

One translation note I will put at the top is the two phrases 'tadaima' and 'okaeri'. Anyone who has watched any anime has probably heard them before. The easiest translation would be "I'm home" and "welcome back" respectively.

* * *

Prompt: the road home

'**I suppose you are here to kill us'**

"For generations, the Emperor and the Shogun have given our family a strict duty to keep the peace of this country by ridding it of those who sought to break it."

Tenjou Makoto looked down at his young daughter and placed a solemn hand on her shoulder.

"In the centuries past, it was our duty to slay warlords and conquer those who sought to conquer us. They were men with the hearts and souls of men. For all their misdeeds, they were but a different side to us."

He lowered himself, knees touching the ground just before her feet, so he might look her in the eye.

"I'm sorry, my sweet Sakura-chan. Your lot in life is not so simple. Your enemy is the mononoke and the kyuuketsuki."

He pat her gripped her shoulder gently, his eyes peering firmly into hers.

"Your job is to slay even the emperor should he choose to harm his people."

**~x~**

"Sir Elliot?"

"Yes, Sakura? What brings you here?"

"I would like to request a few days leave so I might visit my family."

"Well, it has been rather slow since your last…fight. I don't see why you shouldn't. You didn't need to ask so formally."

"There is more."

"Oh?"

"I'd like to bring Seras with me."

**~x~**

Tenjou Sakura was the daughter of two households. Both the last children of a long line, her parents had taken over their respective families' responsibilities. More than once, they joked about how hard it might have been if the families had not been long neighbors of the each other.

Her mother's family had long stood guard over an ancient temple. She raised her daughter to a life of spirituality and understanding, teaching her to fear and respect the new manshaped demons that ruled their country.

"Demons are not inherently bad, Sakura-chan," Tenjou Ryoko would often say. "They have a will and a soul just as man does. They have things they need and desire and they make right and wrong choices in their life's pursuits of those needs and desires. But, you must never forget, they do not think the same way we do."

"Why not, okaasama?"

"Because, Sakura-chan, they are immortal beings. When eternity spreads out before you, the world your gaze meets reflects a different truth."

"What truth is that?"

"I am not immortal, my sweet daughter, so I could not tell you. I merely warn you, while you should seek understanding, you should never trust the promise of an immortal. They have no reason to keep it."

**~x~**

"That request is somewhat…unusual. Could you please explain why?"

"Well, in part, it is because she can get me there very quickly."

"That is a particularly nifty trick of theirs. What is the other part?"

"I have something I need to prove."

**~x~**

Her father's family presented itself to the world as the owners and masters of a dojo. They trained their students in the arts of jujutsu, aikido and kenjutsu. The students that graduated from the school were considered some of the best in the country and often went on to compete internationally or become stars of the entertainment world.

The true family legacy, however, was one of assassination. Trained almost from birth in the lethal arts, they had been used as the government's left hand, dispensing the justice that could only come in secret, protecting the people without ever being seen.

"When our divine Emperor offered himself up to immortality and asked the National Diet to designate another vampire like himself to the office of Prime Minister, the two great lords came to our family and gave us an order."  
"What was the order, otousama?"

"They knew that they were risking the peace of our country by allowing man to become immortal and so they gave us the duty to ensure the peace. Should any being, mortal or immortal, become a threat to the peace and harmony of our land, we must stop them, ending their lives if we must."

"Anyone?"

"Including the divine Emperor himself."

He watched her for long minutes as she took in the information. At her tender age of eight, he knew his words were a burden on her shoulders, one that had been placed on his own at such a time. He regretted their need, as he realized his father must have regretted them, not wanting, in his heart of hearts, to lead his only child to the path of destruction and death. But theirs was a sacred order and one that must be upkept.

"Do you understand what I tell you, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, otousama."

"Are…can you do as I ask?"

She looked up at him, determination shining in her still innocent eyes.

"Yes, otousama. I will take this mission."

He pulled her close and held her to him, letting his face reflect the regret of his heart.

"Good girl."

**~x~**

"Prove?"

"To my family."

"From what I understand, Sakura, your family is not likely to take the sudden appearance of a master-level vampire well."

"And that, sir, is part of what I have to prove."

**~x~**

Mogami Aiko had been her best friend since they were six-years-old. They had met on the very first day of Kindergarten when they had bumped into each other as they both walked staring up at the beauty of the cherry blossoms. Crashing to the ground in a heap of arms and legs, they had looked at each other and started to giggle. It was the giggle in lieu of tears that sealed their friendship. And it was with giggles that they faced every problem that had come their way.

When, in third grade, a boy had stole Aiko's lunch, they giggled as they shared Sakura's and plotted how to put a frog in his shoe locker.

When, in sixth grade, Sakura forgot her homework, they giggled as they shared her punishment and cleaned the classroom for a week together.

When, in second year of junior high, a boy flipped up Aiko's skirt in front of all the school, they giggled as they forged his signature and sent love letters to all the girls in class.

And when, in first year of senior high, a boy rejected Sakura's confession, they giggled over ice cream and sighed over the latest idol.

But when, shortly before graduation, a strange man with unnaturally lightened hair began asking Aiko to come out with him at night, Sakura could not bring herself to laugh.

**~x~**

"Why do you need a vampire to prove something to your family?"

"Because I lost a friend."

**~x~**

For all that she had been trained since birth in the art of killing them, Sakura had never hated vampires. The blame for such feelings could perhaps be laid on her mother. Years of preaching understanding and tolerance had given her a dual outlook on the strange and powerful creatures that had gained a powerful foothold in their country. They were dangerous and to be feared, yes, but they were also individuals with a soul and a will.

So when her friend began to keep company with a vampire, she was wary but tolerant. When that friend had disappeared into the night leaving only a note behind speaking of the choice she made, she was sorrowful but understanding. And when that friend reappeared to her, one night more than a month later, she was overcome with joy to have her friend back.

Her family was not so accepting.

"I understand that Mogami-san has been your friends for many years, Sakura-chan, but she is a different person now."

"No she isn't! She is the same as she has always been!"

"She is not the same. You must know that."

She sighed. "I understand that she is now a kyuuketsuki, a vampire. But that doesn't make her not Aiko-chan anymore!"

"Yes, Sakura-chan, it does."

"Okaasama, otousama, you cannot tell me I cannot speak to my best friend anymore. She is not harming anyone!"

Her parents looked at each other, worried frowns curving their mouths, before looking back at their child. As she met her father's eyes, she saw a world of weariness in his gaze – and an unbending will.

"Sakura, you must not see her again. She may seem the same now, but before long, her new nature will take over. She does not see the world the way you do. Her very existence is different and soon it will be reflected in her actions."

Her mother reached out and touched her cheek gently and the caress brought tears to her eyes.

"I know you cannot imagine in now, but one day, Aiko-san will break your trust."

"But –"

Her mother straightened, giving a look that stopped her speech before looking to her father.

"We've been considering it for the past few months, but we couldn't bear to part with you."

"There is an organization in England that is looking for capable people. They are willing to pay for your college education provided you go work for them. It is a chance to study abroad."

"But, I don't want to leave!"

"We think it would be a good idea if you left for a little while. If you, after a year, you don't like it, you can come home. We think it is a good opportunity for you to…gain some perspective."

She stared at them, silenced by the sudden decision they had made for her. At eighteen years of age, she had never defied them on any major decision. She had always understood that they knew the world better than she and were offering their wisdom to guide her.

She also knew this was different.

"I can come back?"

"If you cannot bear it after a year, yes."

With a slow nod, she gave her assent, turning silently to leave before she lost all composure.

"We aren't trying to hurt you, Sakura-chan," her mother pleaded.

"We are just trying to do what is best," her father finished, his stern voice slipping into concern.

She stopped and, looking over her shoulder, spoke softly before walking silently away.

"I'm not going to forget her."

**~x~**

"She's a…."

"Yes. And I want her back."

"And you think Seras can help you with that?"

"Yes, sir."

"You know…if she goes with you, you will probably have additional company?"

"Most likely."

"…You have one week on the condition that if we call you, the three of you return immediately."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Good luck."

**~x~**

"I've never been to Japan."

"Well, no one is inviting you this time either."

Sakura grinned as she finished packing her clothes. The two vampires stood nearby, bantering back and forth as they waited for her. She had been hesitant to put the question to Seras but her anxiety had seemed to be for naught as the blonde vampire had accepted readily.

"I will not allow you to wander so far off without me, police-girl."

"You have been extremely over protective since we've returned from Romania."

"With good reason. I let you wander off on your own and see what happens? Imagine the danger you could put this girl in by yourself."

Seras rolled her eyes. "If I remember correctly, they were after _you_ last time. I think you are the real danger here."

"That is besides the point. Besides, your transportation skills are nowhere near my level. You need me."

At this point, Seras seemed to make the choice to ignore her former master and looked once more at Sakura who was fastening her bag with a grin on her face.

"Are you ready then?"

"Yes."

**~x~**

"Otousama, okaasama…tadaima."

"Sakura-chan! We didn't know you were coming? How long have you been in Japan? Are you doing well? Are you coming back to stay?"

Slowly, she shook her head before stepping out of the way to let the two vampires into the small receiving area. At the sight of them, her mother drew up stiff and her father, who had been approaching quickly, stopped in his tracks.

"Okaasama, otousama…I want you to meet my commanding officer. And the woman who saved Hellsing."

**~x~**

"I am not saying that all vampires are good. I spend most of my days killing them and their ghouls. I am just saying, not all of them are bad."

Her mother nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the petite blonde woman who seemed more nervous than dangerous. Her daughter had carefully explained what Seras Victoria's role in the Hellsing Institute was and how she had saved so many lives by working with her human compatriots. She had explained the loyalty she felt for the Institute and the promise that she'd made, over a century before, and had kept.

"I…understand. Thank you Victoria-san for taking care of my daughter."

The woman blushed, a feat that surprised the Tenjou parents, and bowed slightly in her kneeling position.

"It is my pleasure to have her in my squad."

"Does she do well?" Tenjou Makoto asked suddenly, speaking for the first time since his daughter started her explanation.

"She is one of the best in the Institution. She is one of three members of an Elite Squad that answers only to myself and the two leaders of Hellsing."

He nodded slowly, pride radiating from his person.

"And this Alucard person?"

"He's a bastard but we keep him in line."

Sakura burst into laughter at the comment made in a familiar monotone. Somewhere off to the side, they could hear a soft snort of displeasure but the two parents focused instead on their daughter.

"Are you happy there, Sakura-chan?"

Sobering, she looked at her mother and nodded.

"I do not wish to return. I just wish…."

"She's been here."

Startled, Sakura sat up straighter, looking at her father with wide eyes.

"She comes by at least once a month and asks after you," he continued, words tentative and careful. "She never stays more than a few minutes, but sometimes, she leaves you presents. We've kept them in your room."

"Does that mean…?"

Her father sighed, a year of tension echoing in the soft sound. "If you wish to repair your friendship with her, we will not stop you."

Tears filled her eyes and she threw herself at her father, holding him close to her as she wept in joy. With a sad smile, he pulled her close, sitting her in his lap for the first time since she was a child. Her mother reached over to embrace her as well and the three didn't notice as Seras quietly excused herself from the room.

**~x~**

"Aiko-chan?"

"Sakura-chan!"

The two girls held each other close before breaking apart. Questions lit Aiko's eyes as she stared at her friend and her two companions, obviously foreigners. All the thoughts of where she'd been, what she was doing and every question on whether or not Sakura was till her friend stilled on her lips as Sakura smiled.

"Tadaima."

"Okaeri."

The two grinned at each other for a long minute before bursting into giggles.

As they always had.

* * *

AN: Okay, quick translations and notes, cause I got to spend some time studying Japanese government for this one. The National Diet is the name they use for their bicameral legistlature. It consists of an upper house, the House of Chancilors and a lower house, the House of Represenatives. It is their duty to designate a Prime Minister which then must be appointed by the Emperor. It's kinda complicated and weird. If you are interested, there is a pretty straight forward wiki site on it.

otousama: father

okaasama: mother

mononoke: demon

kyuuketsuki: vampire

I used these phrases since they have less stigma for most readers than their translation. More nuances. So I apologize if it annoyed you.

Thanks to all my reviewers. You make my day (as always). There will be more on Sakura (at least one other chapter) since she was definitely the most neglected of them all.

The next chapter will probably be for Seras. That far in and I'm just getting to canon...sad huh?

[Edited Note: Sorry for everyone who thought they were going to go on a killing spree and end the Emporer's life. Because of enough misconceptions toward that effect, I have officially started plotting a short, short side story to that effect. Plot bunnies everywhere!]

Til next time!


	6. ‘while I slept’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone who has been waiting for some quality Seras/Alucard tiime. You've waited long enough.

Note: Oddly enough, I started writing this then had a weird dream about the space between life and death and dreams etc. It starred Paul Bettany so I was happy. One day I'll move on to screen plays. My apologies to everyone who was expecting a bloodbath in the last chapter. It wasn't intended to have that sort of feel to it but apparently I failed on my true intentions. I promise to deliver on those expectations at a slightly later date though.

Also? I think this is the best I've done on a Lenten promise since primary, which is more years than I really care to calculate.

* * *

Prompt: the space between dreams and reality

'**while I slept'**

Dreams were not the things of imagination with vampires. Whether memories, visions or insight into the mind, they were visions of reality, often to be dreaded.

**~x~**

Her nightmares had returned. Whether it was the final acceptance of who she was or the return of her openheartedness and emotions, she did not know. Aidan, upon hearing of it, commented that it could actually be the lack of terror on the outside that brought back the horrors to the surface in her sleep. No one could truly say.

She didn't particularly care. She just wanted them to stop.

Day after day, she woke screaming. More often than not, she woke to the smell of blood, her fingers stained red and quickly healing wounds marring Alucard's flesh. The sight of the red liquid painted on her fingers would refresh her mind to the visions just past, renewing the horror quickly and sending her into a fit of frantic tears

The first suck night, he had looked on with a sort of amused pity, sympathetic to a familiar plight. After the fifth, he had criticized her lightly on how she let her emotions conquer her. On the twelfth, he provided comfort and concern, on the sixteenth, worry.

"What is it you see?" he asked finally one day as he helped to lick her clean, his clever tongue moving gently over self-inflicted wounds to distract and comfort her.

She shivered under his attentions before pulling away to face him in what had become _their_ bed. Like a child, she huddled against the hard curves of his chest and he chuckled, drawing them down to lay flat once more.

"Tell me, Seras."

"I see them killing my parents and raping my mothers corpse. I see Henry sealing us with a sneer. I see the night the false priest murdered my comrades. I see Integra dying before my eyes. I see the images of the night we first met the paladin. I see the vampire who tried to rape me when I tried to defend Hellsing alone. I see Walter's betrayal. I see Pip's death to save my own. I see Jan Valentine burning in the hall of the manor. I see you disappearing into the air. I see…."

"Shh."

He cut her off, gently pressing her face into his chest. For a few minutes, they merely laid there as he stroked her hair and she allowed herself to calm down.

"You will never forget your past, Seras. I will not lie to you and tell you that you will."

"I know."

"But you cannot allow yourself to be victim to it."

She sighed, sleep gradually coming to take her once more.

"I will try, Master."

**~x~**

After that, her nights began to improve. She silently attributed it to the conversation and prided herself on her mental fortitude. In reality, Alucard, who didn't need sleep too much to begin with, began to subtly alter her dreams. When, after a few weeks, they stopped coming all together, he allowed himself a satisfied smirk and settled into sleep alongside her.

**~x~**

"What was pregnancy like when you were growing up, Seras?"

"The gestation of a human child will never change, little one. The only differences are in what fad pregnant would follow to keep themselves healthy."

"I wasn't talking to you," Winter huffed as she nibbled on a pieces of dried flatbread. "I was asking Seras."

Alucard rolled his eyes from where he sat, his feet propped up on the table and chair reclining in at an improbable angle.

"Because she is an experienced mother," he muttered not-so-quietly.

The blonde frowned at him for a moment before turning to Winter with a bothered and slightly resigned expression.

"He's right, though, on both counts. I was an only child, too, so I never saw pregnancy when I was really young. And Integra didn't have her child until she was much older than you are. But from her rather…unconventional pregnancy, I can say that it was much the same as yours."

Winter sighed, putting the flatbread down on the table with a look of mild disgust. "I guess I shouldn't have asked."

"It's more than fine."

"You know," the brunette sighed as she rose from the table, "If its not the nausea, it's the exhaustion."

"I keep telling you, vampire."

Winter threw the discarded bread at him without looking away from Seras. He caught it nimbly with a grin and put it carefully back on the table for her later consumption.

"And you know…I could stand the sleep if it weren't for the dreams."

Seras rose as well, joining Winter as she left the kitchen.

"I know what you mean."

**~x~**

"Did you not have a family then, Seras, after your parents…?"

Seras looked up from the lavender paint she was carefully pouring into a paint tray positioned in the middle of the newly restored Hellsing Manor's nursery. Elliot stood sticking blue tape along the while Alucard looked at the paintbrush in in his hand with an expression between confusion and distaste.

"I mean aunts and uncles. Things like that."

She shook her head. "No. They put me in an orphanage."

"Did you ever get adopted?"

"Nope," she replied almost cheerfully as she watched Alucard hesitantly reach to dip the brush into the paint. She took it from him and replaced it with a roller, which he gave a fair turn at staring at oddly.

"Uh, why not?"

"I got in too many fights to be cute enough to adopt. It was all right though. I didn't want new parents."

"Yeah, but to not have a family…," he frowned, turning from his finished work. "Even I had Winter and Aidan after my father died."

"Oh, I found a family," she reassured, rolling her eyes and demonstrating to Alucard the correct way to use a roller.

"Oh?"

"Yours," she grinned impishly before finding a roller of her own.

**~x~**

When Sakura offered to bring the pouches of blood to the resting vampires in the depths of the Hellsing Institutes underground, she envisioned being able to say a quick hello to them both. She might even be able to cozen Seras into going out shopping with her.

What she didn't expect was to find a bloodied Alucard trying desperately to calm down a frantic and screaming Seras. Only a fierce looking from him kept her from running to calm the sleep crazed vampire and she realized, as she stopped in her step, that some of the wounds on Alucard would have been her death if given to her.

The screams seemed endless but lasted only seconds before Seras finally woke and blinked blood tears from her eyes. Distraught concern flooded her eyes as she looked at Alucard's bloodied form before a sudden movement on Sakura's part drew her attention. For a moment, there was only surprise before her expression broke and she leapt out of bed and clung to the young girl. Sobbing, she fell to her knees, her face pressed into Sakura's stomach.

Above her head, Alucard and she could only stare.

**~x~**

It was quietly recommended to Elliot that no one come to the vampires while they slept. It was also silently agreed that no one tell Winter about what Sakura had seen. At nine months pregnant, the worry about things she couldn't fix would cause more harm than good.

"What is it she sees?" Elliot asked hesitantly.

"Death."

**~x~**

She wasn't in bed nor anywhere in the underground area of the Hellsing Manor. With a frown, he followed her presence, leading him to the roof and into the light of the rising sun. She had frequently found solace, in the years they spent with Integra, in the soft light of the setting and rising sun. He couldn't honestly say he didn't understand. Something about her would always be touched with a sort of radiance, a light in the bleakness of death.

And there she stood in a thin night rail, its white fabric doing little to hide her curves, and soaked up the warming rays of the sun. Her hair hung loose down her back, its pale gleam adding another shade of gold to the image and, once more, he felt as if she would suddenly disappear, absorbed into the warm light of the sun.

"I see them dying. All of them."

"I know."

She looked over her shoulder at him, a thin line of red marring her pale cheek.

"I can choose to not be a victim of my past but how do I ignore visions of what has yet to come?"

With no answer to give, he silently closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms, effortlessly transporting them to their room away from the sun.

**~x~**

She began to spend her waking hours with Winter when there were no missions to keep her away. Sometimes they would sit in peaceful silence, the quiet calm good for the increasingly irritable pregnant woman. Others, they would chat quietly about the plans the new Lady Hellsing made.

"I swear, the moment I'm able to, I'm going to run about fifty miles to get all this weight off. And then I'm going to drink about three bottles of real Irish whiskey. And I'm going to shoot like a hundred ghouls. And…."

"You sound like Sir Integra."

"I can only imagine being thirty years older and pregnant."

"She was not particularly happy about it."

Winter winced, holding her stomach briefly, before relaxing again. "Were you there with her?"

Seras nodded. "She recommended I offer my hand since it was less likely to break. That and she didn't want a man in sight. She even had a woman doctor to make sure."

"I can sympathize with that," Winter laughed. "You will be there with me, right?"

"Of course, if you want me," she responded, voice quiet with unexpected pleasure.

"I have a feeling I'd try to shoot anyone else."

They lapsed into silence, lost in their thoughts until Winter spoke again, curiosity and worry alive in her voice.

"What was it like?"

Seras looked up at the ceiling, considering. "It was amazing really. For over thirty years, our lives had only been about death and killing." She looked down at Winter with a happy grin. "And there he was. This tiny baby and brand new life."

Winter grinned. "New life and hope."

Seras nodded and the two grinned at each other, before Winter suggested a game of chess and the two began to play with amused fervor.

**~x~**

_"If you even suggest naming him Edward, I'll slaughter all of you and take him with me to raise as a true vampire."_

_"I don't think it had occurred to any of us, dear, so shut up," the blonde vampire sighed as she moved slowly to the nearest couch._

_"I never know with you women. Always fawning over the latest fads," he grumbled, offering her a steady hand to lower her down into the couch cushions with. She grinned up at him gratefully before leaning her head back on the headrest with a sigh._

_"That fad was over more than a century ago. Keep up with the times."_

_"It's all rubbish. I refuse to keep up with any of it."_

_"Shh…," the blonde hushed, opening her eyes long enough to scowl at the brunette woman and the master vampire. "We are naming him Michael."_

_"Says who?" he grumbled irritably as he sat down beside her and placed his hands possessively over her heavily pregnant midsection. When nothing appeared to happen, he frowned in disappointment before pulling the blonde to rest her head on his shoulder._

_"Says me."_

_"Why Michael?" the brunette asked curiously._

_"For my father."_

_The master vampire frowned slightly, before giving a shrug with his unburdened shoulder._

_"That is…satisfactory."_

_"Glad you think so."_

**~x~**

She woke up trembling, a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. He looked down at her, perplexed but relieved. She focused on him and her smile grew into a wide grin before she pulled him down to her in a fierce kiss. The embrace lasted for some minutes before he finally pulled away, perversely satisfied grin on his features.

"What did you see this time?"

"New life and hope."

* * *

AN: I have another (abandoned) story called _Starlight and Hope _which, I thought at the time, was probably the cheesiest line ever. This might match it. All the same, I hope this pleased. Certain parts were a lot of fun to write. Certain parts were more...odd. Just as there has been promises for continuations for other stories, there will be an actual pregnant Seras chapter. This was just an interesting prologue.

Poor Seras. I keep abusing her.

I think the next chapter will be devoted to the Twins of Doom and Friday's to Maureen. It depends on which idea captures me better. I'd like to give Maureen's on Friday cause I have more time to devote solidly to writing on that day. I think it deserves a little more attention. Not that I don't love the twins...obviously...they are getting attention. And now I'm just babbling and will shut up.

Oh, and yes, the first line is actually from _Life Sentence_. I thought it fit.

Til next time!


	7. ‘how poetic’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my beta, Syrenity, who seems to like me posting then betaing...gotta love finals huh? And to Mrs. Luchec, my poetry teacher many years ago. I finally started rhyming.

Note: This is...different...

* * *

Prompt: gardenia

'**how poetic'**

Two flowers stood alone

Carefully kept and loved

In their master's garden

A gentle hand eternally gloved

**x**

Taken from their home growth

Then planted in ground so new

Away from all the dirty world

To keep them clean and purity true

**~x~**

"You can't take away my grandchildren! They are all I have left of my daughter and her husband! They need to be with their family!"

"I record of arrests and drinking. Assorting with criminals and malcontents. No, I don't think you are fit to take care of them."

"All that happened before I even had their mother! I was young and stupid! You cannot _use_ that for grounds!"

"I certainly can. But don't worry, Mrs. Parker, they will be well taken care of in their new home. They will have every comfort and luxury they could desire."

"But they will not have love!"

"Oh, they will be well loved."

"You are sick, you monster."

"Ah, ah, careful what you say. You keeping going on like that and you might not see them until they are legally adults. If they care to see you then. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"  
"…"

"I thought not."

**~x~**

So carefully cultivated

With care so great

Everything measured

To take in each special trait

**x**

Alone and untainted

They grew to greatest beauty

Unknowing of his careful plan

Knowing only of their duty

**~x~**

"Lily, you did a very nice job on that piece. Your violin playing is getting better everyday."

"Thank you, sir."

"But you must remember that appearance is part of performance. Make sure you keep your back straight and your stance elegant. You are not playing in the Alabama backwoods."

"Yes, sir."

"Very good. Now, Rose."

"Yes, sir."

"Your studies are going very well. I noticed only a couple minor mistakes that prevented you from getting full credit plus the bonus questions. I am sure, by the next test, you will have conquered those mistakes."

"Yes, sir."

"The moment you feel you understand your coursework, please let me know. We can start you on even higher level work."

"Yes, sir."

"I did notice, however, that your handwriting is trending towards sloppy again. Remember, one can do all the best things in the world, but if no one can read them, they mean nothing."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, girls, both of you are due at your protocol lessons and after that dance. I will see you at dinner."

"Yes, sir."

**~x~**

With each separating brick

Their solitude increased

Their will to serve and please

Could ne'er be ceased

**x**

And then a new wind blew

With it new life came in

Thoughts they never dreamed

Did, then, suddenly begin

**~x~**

"Sir."

"Yes?"

"I would like permission to take the girls to the Museum of Fine Arts."

"Are you sure that is…wise?"

"They are thirteen years old and have never been to a museum."

"And you feel now is the time, why?"

"They are becoming frustrated in their studies. I think it would be a chance for them to recharge. It will give them an opportunity to see something both beautiful as well as educational."

"I see. …Well, I guess I can agree to this. However, you must only take them on a weekday, during school hours. There may also be no schools out of session. I do not want them running into the riffraff there."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"I shall hold you personally responsible should anything untoward happen."

"Y-yes, sir."

**~x~**

A sight never before seen

A quick forbidden glance

A covert fleeting smile

A sudden coming chance

**x**

In innocence raised part

From a world of sin and greed

Allowed a fresh view of hope

Giving birth to a new seed

**~x~**

The world around them echoed in silence and waves of quiet whispers. Allowed to leave their estate only for the sake of recitals and competitive testing, they had little experience with the awing power of an unconcerned stranger. A flurry of sensations swept over them as they walked through the echoing halls of the museum. Casual glances of the passing individual and the daunting stares of the ancient souls long ago put to paint and canvas made them feel on display.

For the first time in years, they reached for the other's hand and clung to each other as they walked. The constant commentary of the woman they called tutor wrapped the world in something surreal. They were groundless and lost while knowing exactly where they were and why.

At last, the lesson paused. A quick trip to the facilities and a suggestion to take a seat and look at the impressionist waterlilies. They followed the order, as they always had done, and looked upon the work of a master painter from more than a century before. As the one considered the beauty of each individual stroke, the other considered the time and age of what they witnessed.

And then a movement, a shade darker than the rest, and a unison look from slightly turning heads. He stood there, alone, considering the works around him, apart from the room and whole unto it. While older than they, his features were young, not even a full decade past their own. His dark hair hung long over his shoulder and his face was handsome for all the dark glasses that kept secret his eye.

The quick glance turned to long inspection and, as if feeling the weight of their stare, he turned and looked at where they still sat. His lips curved up at the blush that bloomed on their cheeks and he made short work of the distance between them. When they did not run, he issued them a bow and a dazzling smile. When one made to speak, he brought a finger to his lips, pleading continued silence without word.

Then, with an air of a stage magician, he held up one hand, exposing the inside of one sleeve and then the next. When their attention was caught, and eyes curious, he flourished his hands and appearing in them, as if plucked from air, were two flowers. With the wordless grace of a pantomime, he offered them the sake of their name, red rose and palest lily.

And with another bow, he kissed each their hands and made his way away, leaving them in happy shock. When their lady tutor returned, they had no answer to where the flowers had come from, silently knowing that secrets would be best. All the while, as they finished their trek through the rooms, their eyes darted around with new meaning and sought a certain sight.

**~x~**

Where once only the sun ruled

The moon began to give sway

Dreams of something forbidden

Thoughts on finding a way

**x**

A new freedom sought after

A way to leave the walls

To find a different meaning

To answer sirens' calls

**~x~**

"What happened?"

"I do not understand what you mean, sir."

"What happened on your little trip to the museum?"

"N-nothing, sir. It was a very uneventful day. The girls seemed to enjoy it immensely. I was hoping to take them to the Museum of Natural Science next."

"And they spoke to no one."

"I don't think anyone came within five feet of us, sir."

"So why, madam, are they sudden asking if they can go to a traditional high school?"

"I-I don't know, sir. It could be…."

"Could be what, madam?"

"Sir, they have lived here nearly all their lives. We keep them estranged from the outside world but that doesn't mean they do not have glimpses of it. Perhaps they are finally reaching out with a desire to make friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes, sir. And I must say it is a good idea."

"And why would that be?"

"One day they will have to be in a situation without yourself or I. They will have to be able to handle society one day."

"I do not like the idea of sending them to a run of a mill high school. I have spent years keeping them away from the trash of this city. I do not intend to see them dirtied by it now."

"Then, sir, might I suggest an all girls school? There are at least three of them in the city. One of them is fairly well known for keeping their students separate from the rest of the schools."

"…I will consider it. You may be right in thinking it is a good idea."

"Yes, sir. I'm sure the girls will thank you for it."

"If I allow it, the moment something goes wrong, they will be pulled from the school immediately and _you_ will be held responsible."

"Y-yes, sir."

**~x~**

No longer content with

Watching their days go by

They listen to the birds

Encouraging them to fly

**x**

With each passing day

Determination does grow

Plans then silently made

Until the day that they would go

**~x~**

"The life y'all lead is not normal."

"What happened to your real parents?'

"Don't you have any real family?"

"Anytime you don't want to go home, you two can come over to my place."

"You don't _have_ to live like that!"

"My father's a lawyer."

"So is my mother."

"If you want to leave, we can help you."

"Just ask."

"Yeah, just ask."

**~x~**

And the on one day

Of no special mark

Decision finally made

They embraced the dark

**x**

They let free their petals

And to the moon above

Sought lands of places far

Sought eternity of love

**~x~**

Every protection made for them was to keep the world outside their walls. Nothing had ever been considered to keep them in. In the dark of night, they looked their last at the rooms that had been their world. They silently took up their belongings and put away what they did not need. And hand in hand, they turned away from the home that was their cage. Out the window and up the tree, they were covered in scratches and bruises marred their flesh by the time they made their way up and over the wall.

The quiet scuff of feet on travel worn cement was the sound of their freedom. Scared and shaking, they looked around them, for a moment, lost again as children in a world unfriendly and foreign. The quick desire to go back faded and one raised their chin, the other followed. She stepped forward and led the way. She followed behind, standing straight.

Then out of the shadows, he stepped. His figure and face were the same, for all that years had passed quickly by from the first time he caught their eye. And as he had done before, he bowed with a smile, and flourished his hands until, again, they held the soft flowers of their names. His demeanor was unthreatening as he stepped towards them and into the full light.

They gasped softly as they saw his eyes for the first time, shining red in the light of the streetlamp. She stepped back and she stepped forward. Whispers had swept through the halls of their academy and everyone had heard of the immortal creatures in the world. Twice, he had approached them, and neither time had he attacked.

He held out his hands in promise and surrender. They looked at him and minutes ticked by to eternity as they waited for him to move again, to attack, to retreat. His pose never changed, his offer never retracted.

She stepped forward and took his hand.

She followed.

* * *

AN: In the lanaguage of flowers, gardenias represent secret love, purity and perfection. Or something like that. I can't say that was my inspiration for this story truly since I already had something like this in my head way back when they first got in their fight and died...but I was happy that it fit.

I cannot say the last time I wrote a poem. I imagine it was even further ago that I wrote a poem with a rhyme scheme. I hope it didn't fail totally. And I hope it didn't throw anyone off. This is obviously _very_ different from other chapters. Still...something about it fit.

The entire chapter takes place in my home town of Houston, Texas. I went to the Fine Arts section of the art museum for the first time about three years ago (which was still like ten years overdue) and remember very much the echoey feeling of walking some of those halls. It is a bit odd. But awesome. Including the point where I turned a corner and found a _Waterlilies_.

It had nothing to do with Alucard, Seras or anyone in Hellsing, but I hope it was still at least intersting. We revert back to the regularly scheduled cast tomorrow.

Thanks for your time!

Til next time.


	8. ‘never try and find fault in my logic’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To those who asked for a continuation, truly flattering for an original character

Note: The problem with crafting a one-shot per day lies in the occasions when the one-shots are longer than most normal CHAPTERS I spend a week on normally. That was...rough. Honestly, I'm still not completely happy with it. It kind of got away from me somewhere and I have to wonder if some of it wound up being filler... Whatever. I present it unto you in its full entirety and hope you enjoy it.

It kept me away from my brand new and ultra sexy television. .

* * *

Prompt: kHz

'**never try and find fault in my logic'**

'Touched' is what they called it. 'Driven mad by the fey' was another way. 'Disturbed' some would say in a tone of pleading understanding. 'Bat-shit crazy' was another, perhaps closer to the truth. There were hundreds of ways to refer to it, some bad, some kind. The world had found so many terms to refer to it through the years. She only had one.

Mother.

**~x~**

She remembered when she first saw him.

It was the first day of first grade and she had taken a seat in the back of the brightly decorated room.

"Observe everyone," her father would say. "You might be surprised by what you find out."

At the tender age of six, she was more than ready to listen to anything her only sane parent had to say. So, in silence, she watched the other kids come in and start to play with each other. She was new, a stranger to the group. Quiet and distant, they did not seek her out to join in their morning games.

It was okay, though. From her few minutes of watching, she could tell who the bullies and the princesses were. She could point out the quiet kids and the followers. And everything she saw, she remembered, who to seek out and who to avoid. Information like that was invaluable she understood in her childish way. She was fine with merely having it.

And then he walked in.

He was different from the other kids. When he stopped just inside the door, it wasn't to look for other kids he knew nor was it out of nervousness or fear. It was something else. There was something to his stillness that drew her absolute attention and she found herself shifting forward in her seat, waiting for him to do something.

The action must have drawn his attention, because, suddenly, he looked at her. Her breath caught in her throat. Quickly, she looked away, finding some other thing to look at at random, anything to not meet his fierce gaze. It was harsh and strange from the eyes of a child. It was a look that she had only before seen in the eyes of the adults.

She knew then that there was something different about him. Something that frightened her and made her want to avoid him and seek him out at the same time.

At the time, she decided only to watch.

**~x~**

"You are such an unnatural child. How did you manage to come from your father and I? He is a brilliant scientist and engineer and I graced the international stage. How could we have given birth to a sullen creature like you? It is simply amazing."

**~x~**

One day, something changed.

The year of school had turned over and when they filed in on the first day after summer, his attitude to the other kids had shifted. He was more friendly and played their games. In her quiet corner, alone with a book and a pad of paper, she didn't find it unusual. She had watched him, covertly, for a year, marking all that he did.

For a year, she watched him waste time during lessons so he was not the first one done. She saw him lack reaction when someone ruined his art projects or construction jobs. He merely started over again, working with precision to finish things as he saw fit. She saw him talk to people only when they talked to him, all sunshine and smiles until they walked away.

In the month before her seventh year, she understood that he was choosing his role. In the year before, he was trying to be unnoticed and unremarkable. This year he was being friendly and fun. It was all the same in the end and she didn't care how the others played.

And, then, one day towards the end of March, something shifted. Outwardly, he was just the same. Still sunshine and smiles, pranks and jokes. But, something about his shoulders was stiffer and his smile seemed more forced. He began to disappear directly after school on Fridays and came to school more tired on Mondays.

Slowly, other more noticeable changes started. He stopped letting his school work slip. It was a slow progress, but he went from being an unremarkable student to one of the best in the class before their eyes. When the boys of the class asked him about it, he would shrug it off and say something about his mom and the newest gaming system.

She never said anything and no one else seemed to see it all. It was his business, she figured, and she let it pass. The last months of class passed and she continued in her quiet way, watching the farce that went on around her. Her grades were perfect and her attention in class absolute. A social outcast, she was fine in her role.

She didn't bother making friends she couldn't bring home.

On the last day of class, she stayed behind alone. Her quiet offer to clean the room for the teacher was gladly accepted with the promise of a quick return. She stood alone in the room, the overhead lights off and the midday sun casting the space into dark shadow. Idly, she wondered how long she could waste time and stay in the room, away from the realities of home. Not above a few minutes probably. Even though the young teacher found her hard to cope with at best, she was still responsible enough to send her on her merry way.

The door clattered open and she glanced over her shoulder from where she stood at the sun-bright windows. He stood there, as he did everyday, canvassing the room before entering and she knew the exact moment he realized her presence. She waited, as she always did, for him to change his face and assume the cheerful shape he always had in front of the class, but it didn't happen.

Instead, he stared at her for a moment, nothing but calculation on his face, before turning to the path to his desk and retrieving a small item from the floor beside it. He straightened again and gave her one more solid look before leaving the room without another word.

Why he didn't pretend, she did not understand. Nor did she feel as if he had acted as if her presence was negligible and to be ignored as the rest of the class usually did. Invisible and to be passed over with the eyes like so much air. Though she could not decipher its meaning, the look he'd given her had been drowning in his own personal code.

For the first time, she wondered if he considered her in the same way she considered him.

**~x~**

"Your grades are good, I suppose, but you still haven't brought home a single friend? Are you as dismissive of people at school as you are at home? Does it take so much to get you to smile when you are with children your own age? No wonder you don't have any friends."

**~x~**

She watched him walk away, whistling in a tune that echoed with dismissal and wondered how he could do it.

"Superman doesn't lie all the time."

Surprised at the sound of her own voice, she blinked and turned to sit in the spot he had abandoned. He had discovered it a few weeks into their third year and she had seen him sitting there with various pads of paper and odd devices for months before she finally intruded into the spot.

The year had been different than before. Unabashedly allowing himself to fall into the category of 'smart kid,' he had spent less time with the bullies and jokers of the class. Sometime during the first month of school, she had looked up to find him sitting next to her, quietly working out math problems far different from the ones they had been assigned. At her sudden attention, he looked up, gave a quick shrug, and went back to his work.

It could have been attributed to her general disinterest or her own nonentity status in the class, but his casual way of occasionally choosing to sit next to her did not cause much comment. Even at an age where everyone began silently pairing up boys and girls, they were left alone.

After all, who would start liking the freak?

She never asked him what it was all about, choosing, rather, to ignore his antics in favor of her own works. Besides, at closer quarters, she could observe him more closely. His actions were so much clearer when quiet and subtle.

At that point, she had realized a dream to go into writing. For all her intellectual abilities, her brain sought out words instead of numbers, paint instead of physical activities and music instead of science. Still, all of those required an understanding of people and the observation continued.

"People, in the end, will always reveal something to you that they didn't mean to, poppet," her father remarked one day. "It is those things they don't mean to show others that shows who they really are inside."

And what he wasn't showing was screaming. His ability to morph into the perfect child for every situation remained unchanged. Instead, the hardness around his eyes and the tendency to more and more cede from the games to work on something serious when he thought no one was watching told her volumes.

She wondered, for the hundredth time, what had changed in the year before, that had made his focus shift so much. Gone from being a game he played, the time he spent in school seemed like a trial best played easily. He gave people what they wanted until they went away. His lies were legion.

Except to her.

Sarcasm aside, she realized that he never pretended with her. He never gave her a smile born only from the role he played. He never told her any of his newest reasons for the things he did. He barely even spoke to her, choosing to use the language of a passing glance as his method of communication.

For some reason, she was different.

And it was for that reason that she finally disturbed him in his haven of peace and spoke words not quite truth. She knew he was keeping secrets, knew that there was something outside of his weekday hours that consumed everything he was as a person. She still couldn't guess why.

And he refused to tell her.

But, one day, she'd make him.

**~x~**

"You shouldn't waste time with those scribblings of yours. The only thing that makes money in this world is science and true genius. If you want to write something, write a journal. Maybe it'll show you how wooden your character is."

**~x~**

"You are scaring the children, oh mighty violent one."

"Aidan, you are a child. So, unless you are talking about yourself, shut up."

"I refuse to refer to myself in such lowering terms," he commented idly as he surveyed the quietly whispering class. "Besides, its true."

"How am I scaring them?"

"First, you are wearing your clothes in a more fashionable way as is your hair."

"It's a new school year. My mother made me do it," she commented offhandedly as she continued to work on her math problems during their luncheon hour.

"Second, you are suddenly talking to your fellow classmates more."

"Again, blame my mother.

"Should I blame your mother for not carrying the one right there?"

She looked up at him where he sat grinning and pointing to one of her problems. With a frown, she looked over the problem before muttering quietly and fixing the small error that had led the entire line of problems to be wrong.

"And third, you have suddenly started talking to _me_ of all people."

"You started it," she scoffed under her breath.

"Actually, if I remember correctly, _you_ are the one who kicked me in the shin in the last couple months of school last year. You even stalk me after school."

With a sigh, she looked up. Somewhere between the end of term last year and the beginning of term this year, he had realized her game. When he discovered that her detective abilities were better than his ability to find serviceable hiding spots, he'd begun to purposefully strike up conversations with her in class.

"I never bothered you in class like you do to me. I let you play your game with our classmates. You should let me play mine."

He smiled ironically, plucking the pencil from her hand and erasing her numbers before rewriting them more legibly, clarifying that one 9 was actually a 4. Picking on her about her homework had become a new hobby.

"You don't play a game with them though. You avoid them."

She shrugged, retrieving her pencil with a tired sigh. "You avoid them, too. I am just quieter about it."

"Sometimes, I wonder. And when, silent sylph, do you expect to start avoiding me and letting me be after school?"

Her hand paused in its writing before working again.

"When I have better things to do."

**~x~**

"I understand from your teacher that you are finally beginning to get along with your classmates. Perhaps you aren't such an unnatural child. You should make sure you don't say anything to upset them. They won't be too loyal to you."

**~x~**

"You suck."

"Actually, in point of fact, vicious vixen, _my_ team just won."

"Which is why you suck."

"I can't help it if we are bett- Ow!"

"Instigating a game of girls versus boys _Jeopardy_ when the guys out number the girls more than two to one is unfair, Aidan, and you know it!"

"I would have thought you could carry the team. Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being mean."

**~x~**

"A whole additional year goes by and still you didn't get a single invite to go out with girls from your class or bring any of them home. You don't even hang out with the boys which would be _something_. You should probably start focusing on your grades. You need to keep them up if you are going to get anywhere in life. Your social skills are obviously not going to help you."

**~x~**

"Maureen! Thank you so much for helping me out on the last test! I would have failed it without your help."

"It's nothing Mary-Kathleen. Queen of Textbooks here hardly did anything."

The two girls looked over to where he sat tracing out designs onto grafting paper. Used to the torment, she merely sighed.

"Aidan, can you _not_ bud in on our conversation?"

"Tit-for-tat, my friend. You leave me in peace afterschool and I'll leave you alone during."

"Anyway, Maureen, I wanted to know if you wanted to join us," the blonde girl asked, slight hesitation in her voice as she eyed the handsome boy a moment before turning to her quarry.

"Join where?"

"If it is the mutant research laboratory, she's already well known there."

"Um, we are going to go down to the sea. A bunch of girls from the class, I mean. We haven't ever really hung out much but I thought you might want to come."

"How sweet."

"I would love to come, actually." She smiled, genuine happiness at the invitation undulled by his sarcasm.

"That's great!My mother is taking us all. All she asks is that she has a chance to talk to your mother in person and make sure it is all okay."

"Oh," she replied, trying to make sure her face remained in its happy expression. "I'll ask her. Is your phone number in the directory? I can get her to call your mother if she says yes."

The spritely blonde nodded happily, unaware in the change of her budding friend. "I'll let mom know." With a happy wave, she left the emptied classroom, already pulling out her phone to make the call.

Looking down at her paper, she suddenly lost the desire to work and began to pack up her belongings. When she finished, she found him looking at her calculatingly.

"Not going to call her and ask right now?"

She shrugged lightly. "I can ask her when I get home." Shouldering her bag, she turned to leave the room without farewell, as was protocol.

"And you are off home in a rush to find out what she says."

Pausing at the door, she smiled at him wryly. "I already know."

**~x~**

"Almost twelve years old and you've still never made a friend. I guess it can't be helped. You are hardly friendly at home or at church. Keep on studying. I expect perfect grades since you have no friends to distract you."

**~x~**

"You know, I hear in other countries, they rank students on major tests and display it for the entire school to see."

"I'm glad to know that you pay attention in social studies, Aidan."

"It's for the entire grade too."

"Are you going to be annoyingly distracting through my entire lunch session? Because, really, I'd like to get my math done."

"I was just wondering. Does that mean you would be doom to always be in second place? Ow! Stop that!"

"As smart as you keep saying you are, you are still an idiot."

**~x~**

"You are old enough that you should be thinking about boys and them about you. Don't tell me you still don't have any guys who are after you? You are very pretty. I hope that bad personality of yours hasn't driven them off."

**~x~**

"Please, tell me what you did to Patrick. He went from being all puppy eyed over you to avoiding you like the plague."

"I don't see why you should care."

"It is interest, malicious maker of man mince meat. I want to see what you did that made him so effectively go away. Did you start beating him like you do with me?"

"No, you have that special pleasure."

"I'm honored, I'm sure. Spill or I'll erase all your algebra homework."

"I hate you. Fine. I flicked him off when he asked me to the dance."

"That is precious. My cousin couldn't have done better! Thirteen and you are already an enemy of man."

"So glad I can amuse you, as always, Aidan. Meanwhile, since I fessed up, help me with this one."

"Fair enough."

**~x~**

"Your math grades are remaining excellent but your science classes have started faltering. I don't want to have to keep telling you that your grades will probably be your only success in life. And don't pawn off your composition marks on me. Math and science is what truly matters in this age."

**~x~**

"Apparently, you girls think I am quite fetching. Which, in and of itself, is a hilarious idea since I have been almost nothing but an ass to them since we were six."

"Because what you need is more things to flatter your ego."

"Are you among their number then, disdainful demoiselle?"

"A very firm no. The only thing I want from you is help with my science homework at lunch."

"And we've graduated from math. How endearing."

"I'm too tired to hit you. Either be helpful or I'll stay an hour after school."

"A sound threat indeed. Help it is."

**~x~**

"I'm not sure I believe this talk of you doing afterschool projects and studying. I think you are being a rebellious child. They told me one day it would come. I should have expected it sooner with you the way you are. For the moment, I'll let you continue, but the moment I find out what you are really doing or the moment your grades dropped, I'm going to give you thirty minutes to be home or face punishment."

**~x~**

"Even with my entirely brilliant mind, I cannot grasp the female brain at times."

"Your humility is astounding."

"Answer me this, then oh master of the female mind, how is it that I can systematically single out a series of different girls and give them my full attention and flirtation and yet they always turn to me in the end and tell me that they know I'm really in love with you."

"Really? They all said that?"

"Well, not really. They just said that they knew I wasn't serious."

"Damn. That would have been hilarious."

"But they do always look your general direction when they say this."

"What can I say, Aidan, girls really aren't as stupid as you seem to think. Well, most of them. And they look at me because you voluntarily have been sitting with me at lunch for the past few years."

"Yes because you allow me to do my work."

"Explaining yourself, Aidan? I'm shocked."

"I'd give you one of those routine hits of yours but I don't believe in hitting women."

"Which is why women, in reality, are smarter."

"Shut up and give me your science homework already. I'm bored."

"Stop sulking. You didn't want to date any of them anyway."

"True, but entirely beside the point."

**~x~**

"I understand that some of your classmates are taking university level classes already. I suppose you would complain that you can't do that level class for science in math. I'm not sure what to do with you anymore. All you want to do is scribble in that notebook of yours and draw those foolish pictures. My only consolation is that one of the university heads complimented you at your last piano recital so maybe that wasn't a total waste."

**~x~**

"One day, you'll get the hint that I don't want you to come here after school."

"One day."

"I really _would_ like some peace and quite for once."

"Because I am horrifically noisy."

"How about some alone time?"

"Don't you get that at home?"

"Don't you?"

"Fine. I'll leave."

"Finally."

**~x~**

"Have you been cutting back on your study sessions? You have been getting home earlier and earlier everyday. Don't tell me you are daring to slack off so close to your graduating year. I won't put up with it."

**~x~**

"Your cousin seemed very nice."

"Nice is not the word I would apply to her."

"Is that where you go on the weekends and during summer? To see her family?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Are you ever going to tell me what you do when you leave here?"

"I see no reason for you to know since it completely doesn't concern you."

"Indulge me."

"When you tell me what you do when you aren't here, I'll tell you what I do."

"…I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Unfortunately."

**~x~**

"What did you tell your father? What did you say about me? What did you do?"

**~x~**

"Because, some days, I need to create something instead of destroying it."

She stared back at him, at the destroyed look in his eyes and every decision she had made to simply walk away crumbled in that stare. Every hardened idea she had about leaving everything she knew behind and starting somewhere new where these people could never hurt her again vanished in an instant. She blinked and he looked away, down at his created machine of antiquity. She followed his gaze before looking to one side and catching sight of a foreign object she hadn't noticed before. Picking it up, she turned it over in her hand and sighed.

"My mother is psychotic," she said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I mean actually crazy," she clarified when he frowned in confusion.

"How?"

"They aren't sure really," she replied with a shrug. The grooves of the small item in her hand felt strange under her fingers as she flipped it over yet again. "They say it is something close to multiple-personality disorder. No one really knows, really."

"Is that…."

Her fingers grazed over the holes in the middle, fine teeth lining the sides of the crafted circles. Inspiration struck and she reached over to his new device and hit one of the buttons labeled "eject".

"She only gets bad around me. Never around my father or any of our other family. They can only hypothesize why. Something to do with the pregnancy ruining her career perhaps. Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter now."

As she spoke, she inspected both the device and the item in her hand. After a moment, she fit it into the door and pushed it closed. Curious, she pushed the button labeled "play" and smiled when a garbled conversation from a century past began to sound from the created radio.

"What did she do, Maureen?"

She looked up, startled at the rare use of her name. The blue of his eyes was fathomless and she could only meet them for a moment before looking back to the wheels of the cassette as they wound round and round.

"It was never anything she did, really. It was things she said. They were…unkind." She sighed, pushing the stop button and ending the garble. "Honestly, they were horrible. I hated going home."

"What about your father?"

"He never knew. How could I rat out my own mother? Especially when I knew it wasn't who she really was."

"How long ago did it start?"

She shrugged, still unable to look at him. "Before I met you."

He sighed, deep and heavy. "That explains a lot. I'd been wondering but you always seemed…."

Finally she looked at him and smiled sadly that his wry grin had fallen into a look of guilt and self-recrimination.

"It isn't anyone's fault really. Perhaps mine for not saying anything."

"I'm still not sure what brought all this up. I'm still not sure why tell _me_ of all people. I mean, really, I'm a bastard."

She laughed, the happy sound echoing off the empty walls. He stared at her, confused and she shook her head slightly. Once more, she diverted her attention to the newly created radio, pressing the button for rewind.

"You always treated me different."

"I think we've established that you see through my bullshit."

"You infuriated me and frustrated me and made me think of every way in the book to bring you down a peg and back to the realm of us mortals."

"I'm beginning to question _your_ psychosis if this is your reasoning."

"You distracted me. You gave me something to look forward to when I was at home, something to concentrate on." She sighed, looking up to him again. "You kept me from turning into someone like her, I think."

"Well, that's…surprising."

"I love you, Aidan."

The screwdriver he had been turning over in his hand fell to the floor in a loud clatter. He stared at her, for once silenced, his eyes wide and jaw slack.

"You told me once, almost a year ago, that you would let me into your life when I let you into mine. I've done that. I don't think you are obligated to return that but I do think you should know that…if you tell me to leave one more time, I will."

He jerked slightly at her bold declaration and she straightened her back, determination filling her once more.

"We will be leaving for university soon. It's time for me to focus on being happy. It's time for new beginnings." She looked down at the radio he had spent years building with a sad smile before looking back to meet his eyes.

"So, either create something new with me…or tell me to go forever."

He stared at her, wordless, for a long time. Every emotion she could imagine filtered through his depthless blue eyes as he looked at her and the minutes were agonizing as she waited for him to make a decision that would affect the rest of her life.

Finally, he let out a sigh, bowing his head down until it nearly touched the table. When he raised it again, a small smile painted his features different and he reached over to push the small button with a red circle over it.

"You see, angel of my adoration, there is a place called the Hellsing Institute. It does some pretty interesting things…."

* * *

AN: A familiar phrase by now I'm sure, but there will actually be a continuation to this (another one right?) I had at least one request about how Maureen finally gets into the Hellsing act etc. That and these two chapters have been such DOWNERS that I wanted to give them some humor and love. Hard to remember that Aidan was usually the comic relief.

If things go right, I MAY have a bonus chapter for tomorrow (unassociated with what I had planned) since I will be trapped at work for long dull hours. If not, I still anticipate producing the Seras pregnacy chapter for Monday.

And, while I am not satisfied with it, I hope this held up to most expectations. If not, sorry?

Til next time!


	9. ‘she developed an attachment…’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To the clear blue sky and the Rodeo cook off. It was fun.

Note: Little more than a drabble but it continues to ask that same old question...with another avoidance answer.

* * *

**'she developed an attachment to my little draculina from the very first'**

"I asked you once, many long years ago, why you turned her. I don't think you ever gave me a satisfactory answer."

Alucard grinned down at his aging master, amused at her tenacity. Her single blue eye stared up at him in irritated calm and he mourned the fact that she had, at last, grown old enough to not rise to his bait. All good things, and all.

"I still cannot precisely say, my master."

She harrumphed, turning her gaze once more to where Seras was teaching her very awkward son how to dance for the ball they would soon be attending.

"So you are telling me that you turned her, protected her and enticed her into the realities of your warped world…and you have no idea why?"

He tipped his head back into a hearty laugh, sobering a minute later to look down at her.

"You always did have a way with words. But tell me, my Countess, why do you care?"

"I'm not sure you would quite understand," Integra replied softly, a tinge of other thoughts in her words. "She was always special though, wasn't she?"

Her voice trailed off at the end as she watched the smiling vampire joke around with her son. Long ago, she had accepted the eternal youth of the only woman she had ever come to trust completely. She had never allowed herself to dwell on comparing the slow appearance of wrinkles and age on her face while Seras' had remained pure and smooth, eternally at the cusp of adulthood.

Now, she relished it. A living memory of her youth and everything she had accomplished in her long life, she continued to shine with a light that was foreign and strange in the dark depths of an Institute filled with death. It was purity and innocence and everything that someone of her age and experience shouldn't have.

Sometimes, she wondered if Seras had the strongest will of them all.

"Are you growing maudlin in your old age?"

Reminded of her annoying company, she looked up at him with a frown.

"You still haven't answered."

His smile slipped as he, too, gazed on the odd pair of dancers.

"When I first saw her, she was running, scared, from an army of ghouls and a vampire out to do the same to her. She had witnessed her own people turned to the rotting undead and had realized the futility in her own situation and tried to flee. Even when he caught her and threatened her with rape and death, she still held on, desperate to survive in a situation without hope."

"I think we established that she has determination and bravery in the face of the impossible, Alucard," Integra interrupted wryly.

"You were raised to it, Integra, so you may not understand, but to find something like that in an individual brought up so far from this life…it is something remarkable. The sign of a warrior and, in truth, a leader."

"So, you recognized in her a potential queen?"

He grinned down at her before walking away, to reclaim her hand in the dance.

* * *

An: I wrote this yesterday at work but then I got invited out to one of the fancy smancy Rodeo Cookoff corporate tents and it was all downhill from there. (Jello shots are subtle poison to be avoided at all costs) So, today I post. It's little more than nothing and really, just a bonus chapter.

Proper chapter tomorrow. It may be a little later in the day since it is going to be a very busy couple of days at work (and that's when I get a huge chunk of my writing done).

Til next time!


	10. ‘hit your pet vampire will you?’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Syrenity, who when asked what sort of chapter she wanted, said something close to Winter's, to Mr. Corville, my Death, Dying etc. teacher who drilled this information so far into my head, seven years later it is still there, and to everyone else who wanted to see Seras pregnant

Note: And I managed to do it while busy at work. Look at that....

* * *

**'hit your pet vampire will you?'**

**-**

**-  
**

In the process of accepting the finality of death, there are five stages the patient and family typically go through: Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining and Acceptance.

These don't always happen in order.

Or only once….

-

-

Acceptance:

"You seem fairly calm about all this."

"Well I _did_ have a dream about it a few months ago," Seras commented with a shrug as she frowned at her old room, silently judging whether or not it would be a good spot for a nursery.

"I wasn't talking to you, Seras. No offense."

The blonde looked over at the other vampire who leaned against one wall, staring at his pregnant bride with a look of amusement and possessiveness.

"What would you expect, little one?"

Winter shrugged slightly. "A little surprise? Nervousness? Something in the 'I'm-having-a-baby-at-age-six-hundred' variety."

He shrugged negligently.

"I've had children before. Running around like an idiot is hardly helpful."

"He's bullshitting you," Seras grinned, turning around to look at where he and Winter stood. "He stared at me for about a solid hour without saying anything. Then he stared at my stomach for about twenty minutes before forcing me to lay flat on the bed so he could do a laying on of hands and face."

"That is not running around like an idiot. It is protecting my investment."

Winter's smile grew from a smirk into a full out grin before she burst into laughter at Alucard's composed reply.

"She's not a stock or bond," she chided.

"Indeed. She is has considerably more worth and a much longer maturation rate."

Seras blushed prettily and Winter fell into laughter again, greatly amused at the strange new dynamic to the vampiric couple.

"As long as you are calm and reasonable about this."

"Indeed."

-

-

Anger:

"Will you go away!"

"No."

"I understand, Alucard, that you are concerned for the welfare of your unborn child –"

"I _do_ care for your welfare as well, police-girl."

"- but you _cannot_ be following me around the _entire_ pregnancy."

"Yes, I can."

"Oh, let go of me!"

"No."

"ELLIOT! Order him to leave me alone for twenty minutes before I KILL him."

"Cheater."

-

-

Depression:

"This is downright disturbing."

"What made her cry?"

"Some revival of a Disney flick."

"Why was she watching that to begin with?"

"Irish Deviltry made her do it."

"Why?"

"Revenge."

-

-

Denial:

"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it since I was eight years old!"

"A poor enough job you did of that, getting yourself turned into a vampire at nineteen years of age."

"By you!"

"You were able to hang onto your virginity that long which is impressive but nothing else in our entire acquaintance proves to me that you can take care of yourself."

"Alucard, you've been out with me on missions and merely watched while I took care of every enemy that approached."

"That just proves you can kill efficiently. That doesn't mean you can keep yourself healthy and in one piece."

"I am not going to suddenly get sick and die or fall down a set of stairs just because I'm pregnant."

"Don't care, don't believe you."

-

-

Bargaining:

"Please, master, just an hour a day. Give me _some_ time to my self."

He frowned at her, eyeing her only slightly showing stomach. "I'm not sure I can accept this. You are hardly taking care of yourself appropriately."

"I have been drinking fresh blood everyday!"

He nodded with a smile, pleased at how the Hellsing soldiers had offered up their support in helping out their pregnant compatriot. He wondered idly at how she managed to gain such loyalty from the masses without being harsh or cruel. Still…

"You nearly fell down the stairs yesterday."

"Only because you wouldn't get out of my way and I tripped," she sighed, taking a seat on the soft cushioning of their bed. Exhaustion for pregnant vampires seemed to be three fold.

His frown did not falter as he watched her pull her legs onto the surface of the bed and lay flat with a happy sigh. She was sleeping far more than any other mother of his child had, barely able to even open her eyes during daylight hours. The rational part of him reasoned that it could have something to do with her somewhat dead state. The far less rational part wondered if she were weaker than they had been and was more likely to die. Or…stay dead.

"Maybe if you agree to take those vitamins," he pressed, covering her legs with the soft blanket.

"The ones for people who don't get enough sunlight? That seems a bit retarded, Alucard. I'm not _supposed_ to get sunlight."

"It is very important for women in your condition to get the proper amount of sunlight. The doctors were very serious about this when I spoke to them during Ilona's second pregnancy."

She laughed, tired but amused. "That was six hundred years ago, master."

"Still, that strange web thing told me that vitamins are very important for women in your state."

Sighing, she rolled towards him as he stretched out beside her. Settling her head on his chest she managed to murmur, "If it gets me some time by myself, I'll take all the vitamins you want."

"For someone so anxious to be away from me, you are certainly rather clingy," he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her protectively.

"You are good for a pillow."

-

-

Depression:

"But, Winter, he won't know any of his grandparents! They are all dead!"

"Hope won't know any of her grandparents, Seras. Shiara wishes she didn't _have_ some of her grandparents."

"But he won't have any living childhood friends."

"I wish I didn't have some of mine."

"Harsh, my lady cousin."

"But he'll live forever! What about getting married?"

"I'm sure he can rustle up an immortal bride. Not _my _daughter but…."

"Are we sure, Winter of Mayhem, that we should be _encouraging_ the making of more vampires?"

"Shut _up_, Aidan, or I'll tell Maureen that you took Shiara to the training fields."

"Fine. How do you know it's a boy anyway?"

"I've only ever had sons. A well established fact in the history of my lands."

"Because that means…what?"

"Alucard, will you take the mother of your child to go shoot things? She needs to lighten up a bit."

"Sometimes, little one, I think you are my favorite Hellsing."

"I try."

-

-

Ang-...Depress-...Bargaining:

"That was MY blood, Alucard! She gave it to ME not to YOU!"

He looked down at the freshly emptied goblet of blood and then back to the blonde, stomach rounding nicely with signs of a healthy child. Behind her stood a petite Asian woman who seemed a bit perplexed, probably hesitant to offer any more blood to replace what was just consumed.

"My apologies. I thought since it was left out it was…fair game."

She threw a well-worn pregnancy book at his head. He deftly caught it, tossing it casually on the table before getting to his feet. He approached her with palms showing, steps slow and cautious. She watched him with a wary eye, anger sparkling bright in her fierce gaze.

Slowly, he reached forward and placed a finger under her chin.

"It really _was_ an accident."

Suddenly, she burst into tears. Startled, Sakura took a slight step back, looking around in a somewhat panicked state at the sudden onslaught of sobbing from the normally cheerful (or at leas stoic) vampire. He pulled her to him, careful not to let her see his smirk and rolling of eyes, and pat her head.

"I'm hungry."

"I will supply you with a sufficient replacement."

"But it was _virgin_ blood."

"Do we _have_ to advertise that?" Sakura muttered incredulously.

"You could take some from me, if you like."

"Mmm. That could lead to other things."

"As I said, sufficient."

The two walked off, leering at each other and bantering back and forth quietly leaving a Sakura in their wake, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"That was…disturbing."

-

-

Accept-...Denia-...Acceptance:

"You are not allowed to die."

"I _am_ dead, master. You saw to that."

He pressed his face into her rounded stomach, listening for sounds of movement. She smiled at him, reaching down to brush his elongated black hair off of his bare back. For a moment, she allowed herself to run a finger down his naked flesh, still slightly amazed at her ability, _right_, to do so.

"I never cared about them really."

"Who?"

"My wives."

She smiled impishly. "Does that imply something there?"

He looked up at her, gaze clearly telling her not to push her luck. She grinned wider and grabbed his chin, pulling his willing frame up to her mouth for a quick kiss. The intention died, however, when his lips pressed against hers. Desperation flooded into her through him and she wondered just where his thoughts had been. When he finally pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers, eyes glowing fiercely as they looked into hers.

"You are not allowed to die."

"I'm not going to leave you, dearest heart. If I were going to, I would never have said yes that night."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, you are dumb."

"Women die all the time in child birth, even now."

She grinned, shifting to sit further up, angling her head so she could look down at him. "I'm already dead."

"Semantics."

"I'm not going anywhere."

He nuzzled his nose into her stomach for a moment before glaring up at her threatening

"I'm not!"

Quick as fire, he pulled her out of her seat and across the room, pinning her to the bed, wrists captured above her head.

"Careful. I'm a bit more fragile now," she laughed low as he began to nibble on her neck.

"Is that where the 'dearest heart' part came from?"

"You don't like it?"

"You've been hanging out with the Irishman too much."

"I can stop calling you that."

He pulled away long enough to glare at her repressively before biting into the flesh of her neck.

"Or not…."

* * *

An: CURSE FF.N and it's lack of effectual formatting. Sigh. Originally, the multi-stage sections were written in strike out text...insert in brain now!

That was fun. Though, for some reason, I can't really bring myself to do a pure humor A/S chapter. There has to be a bit of something else in there...hmm... She obviously hasn't had the kid yet so if thoroughly requested, I imagine I could stick up a more detailed Pregnant Seras chapter.

I have NO idea what I'm writing next. I'll look over the ideas and see if I can get a good glimpse of one tonight. Sometimes inspiration just strikes. This one was partially completed due to trying to abate a REALLY nasty nightmare. One day I'll stop having movie-dreams. One day.

Hope you enjoyed it. I thoroughly fell in love with this one. Perhaps for its simplicity.

Thank you for your kind words.

Til next time!


	11. ‘willing to stick around you’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To the person who can get me a day off work...or a Playstation 3...I'm not picky.

Note: I had a few ideas mucking about in my head as for what to write today. this kinda ended up being two of them...hope you enjoy

* * *

Prompt: our distance and that person

'**willing to stick around you'**

"But, why are you leaving Auntie Sakura?"

She turned from packing her bag to look down at the small blonde girl, her blue eyes shining with tears as she looked up at the Asian woman.

"Knock it off, Hope. Tears won't work in this situation," a voice chimed in from the door. Looking over Sakura saw a petite eight-year-old with fiery red hair and a smirk dancing in her violet eyes.

"It doesn't hurt to try," the blonde sighed, all traces of upset erased from her face when the woman looked back down at her. "Uncle Alucard says you should try every means available to get things to go the way you wish."

"I wouldn't listen to your 'uncle' Alucard too much, Hope, sweetheart. He's a bit psychotic."

"So are most of the people in this place," Shiara shrugged. "It doesn't stop us from listening to them."

"True enough," Sakura grinned, turning back to her bag.

"Why are you leaving, though?" Hope persisted.

"I'm just going to see my family. I should be back in a couple months."

"Should?"

**~x~**

When she got to England, her thoughts were filled with Aiko and everything she was leaving behind. Already, she was counting down the days until she could leave and go back to the home that she knew and loved. Her trip from the airport to the Tower of London made her feel like one of the prisoners in the ancient age that were born to their death with similar sights.

Walking into Sir Elliot's office had stiffened her resolve to be done with the entire Hellsing Institute. The room was dark and small, lacking even the simplistic beauty of everything she had ever known. Empty of living souls, she took a seat before the grand oak desk and waited.

The first sound she heard from the leader of the Hellsing Institute was a muffled curse as he banged his head on the doorframe. She quickly covered her smirk as she waited for him to come around to the other side of the desk. Careful to keep her eyes on the floor, lest she show her amusement, she was startled when she finally looked up and found a boy close to her own age.

"You are Miss Sakura Tenjou, right?"

She nodded warily.

"Wonderful." He reached out a hand to her, friendly grin on his face. "I am Sir Elliot Hellsing. I have heard a lot about you."

She took his hand, hesitantly shaking it before letting go and resuming her seat properly once more.

"I have to admit, I have not heard much about you at all. Forgive my rudeness, but aren't you a little…young for to be the leader of this place?"

Taking his seat, he gave her a lopsided smile and a brief shrug.

"It is an inherited position, regardless of age. I try my hardest though." He reached to the desk and picked up a file reader, pressing the screen in a couple places to display translucent information. "I understand you are actually famous in certain circles for your combat abilities."

"Yes, sir."

"I also see that you made excellent grades in school."

"Yes, sir."

He placed it down on the desk and looked at her again.

"Have you decided on a degree field yet?"

"I am trying to choose between a world theology and ancient texts with an emphasis on folklore."

He grinned. "Should make for some good homework either way. I wish you luck in them."

"Thank you, sir."

"We have," he began, trailing off as he touched the file viewer a few more times, "one other enlisted who is attending school there as well. He is two years ahead of you, but he should be able to show you around the campus and escort you to and from for the first couple of days."

"That would be wonderful, actually, sir. This is my first time in England."

He nodded. "I hope you enjoy it."

She stood up and gave him her first genuine smile since her parents issued their edict.

"I hope so, too."

**~x~**

"What does _should_ mean, Sakura-chan?" Shiara persisted when the woman ignored her.

"It means that if all goes well, I will be back in time for the fall."

"What could go wrong?" Hope asked, her age revealing itself in her innocence.

"Well, hopefully nothing. But, I've been here for almost seven years, Hope sweetheart. My parents want to see me, too. Also, there may be things I have to do there that may keep me."

Shiara stared at her with measuring eyes and Sakura nearly flinched away when she saw them fixed on her. Too much like her parents, she could admit to herself, if no one else, that she hated the way all three of them could read her like a book.

"Are you running from something?"

**~x~**

Her attraction to him was immediate, from the first moment she saw him, and long before he finally came up to her. Brushing his windblown hair from his eyes and offering her a friendly smile and a welcoming hand, he introduced himself.

"Ethan Williams, nice to met you."

"T-Sakura Tenjou."

"Sir Elliot told me you might do well with an escort around the place for a few days."

"That would be nice, yes," she agreed with a welcome smile. Everything around her was different and more than a little confusing but, when she looked into his shining eyes, things seemed a little better.

"Well, it can be a bit confusing at first, but we'll get by. Want a tour of the base after we get back from the campus?"

"That would be wonderful."

He grinned. "Well let's go. We really shouldn't be late to the first day of class. Just not a good idea. Though," he paused, winking at her, "you might be able to get away with it."

She blushed and he laughed, carrying the conversation to other places. It was amazing to her. Light hearted and young, he joked about everything around them and for the first time, as she walked under the bright sky to their campus, she wondered if she might not want to stay when the year was up.

**~x~**

Sakura stared at her, startled.

"What would I be running from, Shiara?"

The redhead gave a quick shrug. "I'm not sure. But, something about how quickly you are leaving, without warning or much planning, makes me wonder."

"Why would I be running from this place, though, when I love all of you so much?"

Hope grinned and gave her a hug but Shiara merely looked on with a thoughtful gaze.

"You _are_ getting a little old."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Twenty-five is hardly _old_ Shiara."

"Well, no. But it _is_ old enough to have decided what you want to do with your life. Are you sure _this_ is it?"

**~x~**

If she were honest with herself, she would say that she lacked courage. By the end of the first day, she had found herself charming. By the end of the first week, she was in love. By the end of the month, she knew she couldn't leave him behind. Effortlessly, he had washed away every qualm she had about living in a strange land. He stood by her with jokes and smiles as she complained about having to take tests in a language she was used to only speaking. He helped prop her up on the nights when they were both too tired from fighting vampires and ghouls to do much more than breathe.

It was a golden friendship, but that's all she could bring herself to see it as. Her heart had broken, not that long before, when the boy she had liked had told her she had misread his intentions. But she was content with friendship, she had told herself. She might be gone in a year and so she was content.

She was still content, she told herself, when he had fallen head over feet in love with Major Victoria. She couldn't even blame him. Her purity was absolute and, even when she showed no emotion, her presence was captivating. How could she blame him for loving her when she, herself, began to idolize her?

Yet, she could allow herself to acknowledge the happiness she felt when she saw how devoted was Seras to Lord Alucard. Nor could she completely ignore the flutterings of joy when she heard the quiet conversation where she told him no. The joy could not be ignored when, later, he had come to her and sat heavily on the couch beside where she was reading a book, flopping his head onto her shoulder.

It was too soon, she told herself then. She was content with their friendship.

But, 'too soon' turned into 'how could I say something now' as the year turned and then another and another. She watched as a series of casual relationships came and went through the years. She cringed when he celebrated his anniversary with a pretty blonde girl and leapt in silent joy when he ended things only two months later. All along, she told herself she was content.

Until, one night when they had been asked to watch the little ones, he sighed over the chessboard and mused aloud.

"I wonder if it is time that I begin to do something more with my life."

"W-what do you mean?" she stuttered, covering the lapse with a small cough and false clearing of her throat.

"Well, look at this place. Everyone around our age in this place has a kid. Most of the people who are enlisted here don't even live at the manor anymore since the number of ghouls and vampires has gone down so much in the past few years. Everyone left is either straight out of school or an old foggey."

"Don't let Captain Douglas hear you say that."

"No thank you. That Scottish bastard is already after me for being a Northerner." He grinned at her before moving a knight into place. "Still…."

"Are you saying you are thinking about settling down, Ethan?"

"You know, Sakura, I might be." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm about to turn twenty-seven. I have a college degree in a field that I do not work. I have no serious girlfriend or fiancée or wife."

"I hope you aren't planning to have all three," she retorted, moving a bishop.

"A man can hope."

"You are still young, Ethan."

He looked down at her, frowning at the expression on her face.

"I know. I just…I don't know if this is _really_ what I want to devote my life to but as long as I do, I don't have room in my life for anything else." He grinned at her. "Know what I mean?"

She smiled at him sadly and nodded.

"Yeah…I do."

**~x~**

Sakura sighed and let go of Hope long enough to give Shiara a squeeze.

"You know, dove, I'm not sure what I'm wanting out of life. But I promise you, no matter what I decide, I will never be too far away."

Violet eyes crinkled and she grinned.

"You better."

**~x~**

"You are running."

With a squeak, she turned to face the master vampire as he stood on one side of the kitchen.

"Will people stop _saying_ that? I'm not running. I'm visiting my parents."  
He smirked at her, crossing the room to pluck a blood pouch from the refrigerator.

"Perhaps I am reading it wrong."

"Perhaps right," she sniffed.

"But it seems awfully odd to me that after spending all those hours with the Northern fellow, you would leave without telling him you were leaving much less goodbye."

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it after a moment. Turning on her heel, she left the room, desperately trying to ignore the sound of his laughter as it followed her down the halls.

**~x~**

She stood in his rooms and looked around for a place to put the old fashioned note. It seemed weird and empty without him there and she wondered how he would find her room when she was gone.

_"My mother has been complaining long and loud that I never come see them. Give me two weeks without any calls or emails. That should make her happy for the next year." He grinned and gave her a quick wink as he packed his bag. "I hope."_

He knew he said not to, but she knew equally that he would be mad at her for not contacting him. It was true when she said that it was a sudden visit. Her mother had called her practically in tears. She had been out of university for two years. Couldn't she come stay for awhile?

She had quickly agreed, finding the timing perfect to coincide with her sudden urge to get away from the Institute.

She really was running. But, she didn't know what else to do.

She could no longer be content.

**~x~**

Home – her parents' home – was much the same as it had always been.

Despite her activities in that country a few years before, Japan was much as it had always been. Even if everything changed, there was a certain aspect to the people of her homeland that would never alter. Simplicity was still considered best and honor was important overall.

Within the first week, her days had fallen into a pleasant routine. In the morning, she would help her mother in the temple. The newest mikos would refer to her with deference and she swallowed the undue respect until she was able to leave for the day. When she finished there, she went to her father's dojo and helped him train his students.

It was there that she felt most in tune with her life in her native country. Used to fighting to survive, she was happy to lend her experience and expertise to those who were just starting out. Somewhat famous, a few of the students would often argue over who got to do one-on-one training with her until it became a prize for performing the best each day. Everyday ended with the satisfying gratitude of her students and a slightly more relaxed father (who was truly getting no younger).

Still accustomed to the life of being a university student by day and a vampire hunter at night, she would steal the first few hours of night to spend with Aiko. The opportunity to spend at least a little time everyday with her best friend was all the reward she needed for a days worth of work. They giggled and chatted just like they always had, content in their friendship.

It was simple and expected.

But, it didn't make her happy.

**~x~**

He picked up the crumpled piece of paper that had been sitting in the corner of his bedroom for the past two weeks. Smoothing it out on his desk, he groaned in frustration at the contents as he read them once again. As if the weight of the words were falling directly on his shoulders, he leaned forward, banging his head hard against the space of his desk.

Up close the words were harsher. Damn his perfect vision.

He threw himself backwards, tempted for the hundredth time to tear the note to shreds and be done with it. He couldn't though. There was something so…personal in the handwritten note, unusual in a world full of technology rendered text. She had taken the time to pen each word, legibly, and had carefully folded the note in quarters before leaving it for him to find.

"If she was going to be so damn careful, why didn't she fucking call me?"

Groaning, he stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A minute or so later, he was outside and in the brisk night air. He breathed in deep and let it go slowly, trying, not for the first or fiftieth time, to gain some sort of understanding for her actions.

"Maybe she was afraid of your reaction."

Jerking to the side, he looked over at Seras where she stood hand in hand with a brunette child, unusually solemn for a child of his age.

"Hey there, Mike, my man. Did you just get up?"

The boy shook his head. "I've been up since mid afternoon."

"That's pretty early."

He sighed laboriously. "Mum said I had to. She and father are going to be leaving tomorrow for some important work. She said I had to spend all day and night with her so she won't miss me tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes. "Aren't four-year-olds _supposed_ to miss their mum when they go away?"

Ethan shrugged. "I'm not sure Michael is an ordinary case."

"I'll miss you, mum. But I know you'll come back. I _will_ miss you a lot though."

Tone earnest, he looked up at her with wide eyes and she grinned down at him.

"More like it."

"What did you say earlier, Seras?"

She blinked, confused for a moment before realization dawned. "Oh, you were thinking about Sakura."

"Are you reading my thoughts?" he frowned, not liking that idea too much.

Coloring slightly, she shook her head. "You are projecting. It's not my fault that I've been more receptive since I've had him."

He sighed. "If you say so. But yeah, I'm still a bit angry that she went off like that, I guess. I was only gone for three days before she made the decision to leave. She could have _called_ or something."

"She was probably afraid of what you might say. Sometimes its hard to make the decision to leave and try something different for awhile. Especially when you've been in the same place for so long."

"But," he argued, turning to follow them on the path that they had started, "why would what _I_ have to say make a real difference?"

"Because Auntie Sakura is in love with you."

The two adults looked down at the child and Seras couldn't help but burst into laughter at Ethan's shocked face.

"W-what?"

"Well, as much as I shouldn't confirm what this little monster just said," she laughed, tickling her son's stomach until he let out a short laugh, "he's right."

"But how did you know?"

She looked back up at Ethan with a patient smile.

"Ethan, I think you are the _only_ one who doesn't know that she has been in love with you for years. Since before I came. Maybe since you've _met_. You are just dense."

He blinked at her, stock still at the amused words. He stood there staring after her until long after she and Michael had disappeared into the bowels of the White Tower.

A week later, he was gone.

**~x~**

"YOU!"

Startled, she tripped and fell from her perch to the unforgiving cement below. Just as she was cursing the idea of sitting on the stupid brick wall to begin with, she realized two things. First, she hadn't crashed into the hard ground but was instead lying on top of a warm distinctly male chest. Second, whoever had yelled, had yelled in English.

"What is WITH you and sitting in precarious positions in weird places?"

Frowning, she looked over, sure that the voice she heard could not be the one she thought it was only to squeal in surprise when she saw his face.

"Ethan! What are you doing here?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Glaring at her, he got to his feet, grabbed her hand and yanked her forcibly to her own. "What they hell were you thinking leaving like that? Did you think I wouldn't care?"

"I just…I just didn't know what to say. I didn't want you to stop me." She looked down at her hands and sighed. "I wanted to see if Hellsing was what I truly wanted or if…if there was something better out there for me."

"Better than me?"

She looked up at him, frowning. "This doesn't have anything to do with you."

"I'll say it does," he argued, fierce gaze ignoring the people who had stopped to stare at the mysterious foreigner who was yelling at a young girl in the middle of the park.

"Whether or not I find a new life for myself is for _me_ to decide, Ethan. Not you."

"What if I think I have the right to be part of whatever life you find?"

She opened her mouth to respond then closed it, looking at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean," he responded, taking her hand in his and pulling her towards him, "is that I have been waiting for years for you to pay attention to me."

"But you always…."

"I always came back to the only girl who made me laugh. The only girl who I wanted to relax with. The only girl who made me want to be a better person at the end of the day."

"So all those other girls were…," she trailed off, unable to breathe right at what he was saying.

"Filler." He paused, shrugging with his head a little. "Well, not Seras precisely but I can't honestly say I ever really thought that was _ever_ going to happen."

"Then why didn't you _say_ something?"

"Why didn't you?" he countered with a grin.

"But, I…you were always…I…."

She sputtered for a moment before lapsing into flabbergasted silence. Could it really be true? Had be been looking at her the same way all those years, just waiting _her_ to treat _him_ special?

Sakura opened her mouth to ask but was quickly hushed as he put a finger to her lips.

"You know, we've spent years speaking without saying what was really important. And we've spent years pretending we didn't see the other person _that way_ because it would affect our friendship, am I right?" He waited long enough for her to nod before pulling her close to him and grinning down at her.

"I think we should stop waiting around and talking. I say we act."

And with that, in the middle of the park, in the middle of Tokyo, in the middle of the day, he kissed her.

And she was content.

* * *

An: Once more I proved to myself that Sakura really didn't get enough lines in the original story. Which, really, is kinda funny. All along she had this bit of side story going on. Also, I hope people are glad to see Ethan. First time cropping up in these stories. I was a little surprised that no one said anything. I guess everyone else is a bit more amusing.

I will be the first to admit that this is NOT my best. My brain cells are kinda being scrapped off the bottom of the barrel. Writing so much so quickly is a bit taxing when work is suck and sleep is practically non-existant.

Glad people liked the pregnant Seras bit. My beta, who has two children now, was much appreciative. I think she read a good bit of the stuff I got to listen to her complain about during her last pregnancy. To those who commented to the effect, my idea of Alucard's reaction was a mixture of the obssesive future father's I have seen, his tendency to be absolute in his claims for things and the reality that, after seven hundred years of life (at this point), his attitude to such things will shift little by little.

I hope any further chapters I write about him will reflect this. Eventually, everyone changes. And remain the same. *shrug*

I may continue to do a bit more on Sakura or Ethan for anyone who requests. I've also alluded to in this chapter the hopeful idea of a foray into killing the Emperor of Japan.

When I have the brain cells.

Thanks for the reviews! Always a nice thing.

Til next time!


	12. ‘for close to two centuries…’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To those who thought Alucard needed some love. Sort of.

Note: This went...weird. I started out with one intention and it went somewhere else. This happens quite a bit but this was a true struggle to keep it somewhere remotely close to my original intentions. You might understand that better if you read the entire story then take a quick gander back at the prompt this was derived from.

Yeah...

* * *

Prompt: excessive chain

'**for close to two centuries, I was the Hellsing vampire'**

He was used to captivity. Abraham and those who followed never really understood that. Most of his life as a man had been short bursts of extreme activity and violence between being held captive by one force or another. Well educated from infancy, he had always known that the best course of action in such cases was to bide one's time and use it for the purposes of planning.

Being held hostage by the Hellsing family was no different.

In point of fact, it was perhaps better than most. The interesting head of the family, scientist and doctor turned vampire hunter, had turned his earlier pursuits and specialties to his new captive. What powers he might only have gained through age and study, he was granted by blood rite and science. The most glorious powers that he had only been able to use upon rare occasion were now set by number, used as easily as muttering the right incantation.

It was fascinating.

**~x~**

"There is something somewhat odd about watching you help Sakura with her advanced mathematics homework."

He looked up at his immortal bride with a repressive glare.

"Do you think me incompetent or stupid, police-girl?"

She shook her head furtively as she came further into the library. Effortlessly, she hopped onto the table beside where he lounged back in one of the aged chairs.

"I always knew you were clever, master. I just," she trailed off, cocking her head to one side as she considered –carefully- what she meant to say. She looked back at him with a shrug. "One doesn't usually associate warlords with Calculus."

His lips curled up at one end and he tipped his chair backwards as he looked at her.

"At the time of my birth, I was very well educated for the period." He folded his hands together, tapping his thumbs lightly against each other. "I saw no reason to let myself fall behind. Education is the key to success in any time."

She blushed, breaking his gaze and turning her eyes to her booted feet.

"I never got past my A-levels. University wasn't much of an option…."

"Do you suppose I think less of you for not having an institutionalized education, Seras Victoria?"

When she didn't answer, he let his chair fall onto all legs and leaned forward to place a finger under her chin. "Are you still so foolish?"

The flush on her face grew and she shook her head slightly. "I just…"

He grinned at her, rising to his feet, and offered her his hand. She looked at the appendage for a moment before glancing to his face.

"Shall we remedy the situation then?"

The joy that shone from her features as she eagerly took his hand made him chuckle and the two left the library considering which method of study might fit best.

**~x~**

From birth, he knew he was destined to lead. Not the first son of his father nor even the second, he still knew what his destiny was. Betrayed by his family and educated well by those who he hated, he knew his role. He saw the world for what it was, dirty and overrun by the filth of humanity calling themselves nobility.

Three times in his life, he held the throne of his land. Three times he saw the destruction and dissipation the war of other countries brought to his people. Vowing to bring peace and prosperity to his land, he used all the knowledge he had gained through the years to make success of his lands. While others called him monster, his people grew to love him for his dedication, to honesty, to the economic growth of his country, to the safety of his people.

History called him a cruel killer, but in reality, he was a leader.

Yet, as he sat in the captivity of a family sworn in oath to destroy the beings most like him, the world around him changed. Anxious for war and activity as he was, he recognized the World Wars for the truth that they were. Gone were the days of kingdoms conquered with might or bargaining. The world roared with treaties and parliaments. Empires were a thing of the past and democracy had taken its place in the world.

For all the strength that the family of vampire hunters had given him, he was fast becoming a powerful leader with no country to lead.

**~x~**

"Guess what!"

Moving quickly to catch his heavily pregnant bride, he frowned at her even as she latched onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and dancing happily with her feet.

"You will stop that. Now."

She pulled away and stuck her tongue out at him. "Spoilsport." A moment later, though, she winced and grabbed his hand in a quick squeeze as a pain passed through her.

"Precisely what I mean," he sighed. Leading her to a chair, he deposited her onto the soft cushions before placing a measuring hand on her rounded stomach. "You are far too…heavy with child for such activities, police-girl. Realize this."

She frowned at him for a moment before taking his hand to move it to where the baby was currently moving. A grin spread out on her face as she watched his expression shift between confusion, awe and scientific intent.

"Did you want to hear my good news or not?"

Giving her only a momentary glance, he shrugged a single shoulder, his focus obviously on his hands and what was under them.

"I made full marks on my last final examination."

"You continue to do well in your studies. That is good."

Her grin faltered and died at his utter lack of excitement. Rolling her eyes, she shifted in the chair, pushing his hands off her stomach with a sniff.

"Glad you think so." She hefted herself out of the chair and made her tenuous way across the room and out the door, heading towards the kitchen area.

He followed after her, irritation clear on his face. Not so long before, he might have said something, but months of her rather…violent mood swings had forced him to concede to the idea of neutrality or retreat when it came to making comments that would further upset her.

"Sorry if I find some validation of my own intelligence something to be excited over," she muttered as she sorted through the ever-increasing store of vitamins that he kept supplying her with.

"I never needed validation for that though, my clever draculina," he murmured, coming up behind her. Careful to avoid touching her stomach (a lesson he also learned after more than one argument about exactly who he was paying attention to), he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nibbled onto her neck.

She snorted in disbelief even as she tilted her head to one side, allowing him better access. "That's a bit rich coming from you. You spent the better part of the first year calling me a fool."

"I stopped after a year though."

"You were _gone_ after that, Alucard," she muttered, trying to maintain her bad mood despite his attempts at sabotage.

"That is hardly the point. The times I called you a fool were in reference to your refusal to accept yourself and not your intelligence." He smirked as he felt her shoulders relax.

"Try and muster some excitement next time though. Be nice. For once."

"I am often kind."

"Yeah. Uh huh."

**~x~**

The realization of his own impotence began to settle on his shoulders after his return from Warsaw. He went without care into the confinement, thoughts idling at what the world would be like when he next woke. That waking brought only the realization of his fears and the world continued to wage war only to save their neighbors.

When the Major and his misfit group of Nazis wreaked havoc, he was glad for the distraction. He understood the concept of waging war merely for the love of combat. Still, it was not enough. It was with acceptance that he let himself dissipate into the air and with grim determination that he heeded the siren's call and fought his way back into single existence.

She always called to him, from the first night. Her every word pledged loyalty to him and in her he felt himself lead.

But a single follower does not a leader make.

**~x~**

"I had a dream about you and Michael last night."

"As much as I object to sounding like a whiney child, it is hardly fair that you get to see him before I do," he complained quietly one night as he rubbed the length of her legs, coaxing the fresh blood to circulate through the entirety of her body.

"You go through this experience and we'll talk."

He grinned up at her. "A complaint I've heard many times before."

She frowned suddenly. "Were you like this with your wives?"

He shook his head slightly, lips curving up in humor. "Hardly. They were both marriages made out of duty." He sighed, moving his hands to her other leg. "I couldn't honestly tell you if I would remember their names if it weren't a matter of recorded history."

"What about your other sons?"

He frowned slightly, looking up at her for a moment before turning back to his task.

"I hardly remember them."

"But they were your sons!" Her voice tinged on panic and he wondered if she were upset that he forgot them or if her mind was on the child she now carried.

"It has been many long years since they were alive." He shrugged dismissively. "Things were different then, police-girl. Only the favored son was paid attention to. Even then, it was usual practice to see one's own children only once a day, if that." He chuckled bitterly. "I was also held captive for a good portion of my sons' early childhood."

She fell into silence, face awash with worry and confusion, and minutes went by without either speaking. When at last he finished his treatment, he stood and looked down at where she lay on the bed. She tracked the motion with her eyes but remained silent. He stared at her for a moment before turning and leaving her in peace, wondering why the look she gave him bothered him.

Wondering why he was questioning for the first time if her eventual loyalty would lie with him or the child in her womb.

Wondering, for the first time, what it would be to lose her absolute loyalty.

Wondering why he cared.

**~x~**

"Heirs are an absolute necessity, my master."

"I would think, vampire, that you would prefer I die a virgin," a young blonde woman remarked, taking a long drag of a cigar.

"Perhaps if you would allow me to…."

"I'm not in the mood for your games, Alucard."

He chuckled knowingly. "You should show loyalty to your line, Integra. A great leader has done nothing in their life if they have no one to take the reigns of what they have created after their death."

"Which your history _clearly_ shows," she chuckled meanly.

He shrugged. "One cannot control what happens after death. Especially when one's death is orchestrated."

"Is that perhaps admitting to lack of foresight on your part?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps it was lack of discernment on the part of their mother."

She chuckled again, flicking the ash off of her cigar. "Didn't one of them commit suicide rather than hold down the fortress?"

"Indeed. She failed in her duty to protect and raise her child."

"And is that all their purpose was? To have children and raise them?"

He laughed softly. "If you are supposing I had any other reason to marry them, then you are being naïve. The purpose of any woman having my child is to have absolute dedication to the son they bear."

"Even above their dedication and loyalty to you?"

"Even so."

**~x~**

For a week after their conversation, she remained silent in his company. She did not shrink away from his touch nor push him away when he held her to him protectively, but nor did she seek him out or look for comfort from him. Even in the company of others, she refrained from speaking. Only when Elliot spoke, did she answer and even then her words were monosyllabic and quiet.

Then, in an impossible quick movement for one so heavy with child, she pinned him to the bed after their daily treatment. Startled and caught off guard, he found himself laying flat on his back with her sitting on his stomach, glaring down at him triumphantly. Frowning, he opened this mouth to speak but she quickly covered his mouth with her hand, an unprecedentedly bold move on her part.

"Shut up. I have something to say and you _will_ listen to me."

The desire to be angry was quickly losing out to admiration at her cleverness and strategy. Perhaps those classes she took from the university were not as useless as he first imagined.

"First, I don't care what happens, you _will_ remember me and if for some reason something _does_ put me out of commission or kill me, you _will_ take care of this child _yourself_."

Still amused and muffled, he nodded his assent.

"Second," she began then faltered. Taking her hand away, she looked at him, a fragility in her gaze that he hadn't seen since her first year as a vampire. "Do you want your son?"

He frowned at her.

"I mean," she amended, "if you had known before hand and could have planned all this, would you still have wanted it to happen?"

Brow clearing, he considered her question for a long moment. Pleasant as the idea of having a son was, it really was without the purpose his other sons had been for. He had no land, no country. He was led no one. He did not require an heir. Yet….

"Yes."

"With me?"

This, too, he considered for a minute.

"…Yes."

"Care to mention _why_?"

"No."

For a second, she stared at him, lips parted, on the verge of saying something. Emotions conflicted in her eyes before sorrow won out and then faded to amusement.

"I guess that's as much as I could have hoped for," she sighed with a smile as she edged her way off of his stomach and onto her side.

"You can always hope for more," he argued, moving into a more comfortable position should she choose to cling onto him as she usually did. He didn't allow himself to admit to disappointment when she didn't.

"Why hope for something you most likely will never get?"

He smirked. "I believe I am beginning to learn."

**~x~**

Captivity changed through the years, depending on the captor. There were those who tried to subdue him while others sought to convert him. Some used him to defeat their enemies and others as a prize pet.

Some sought to hold him to them for reasons other than violence or conquering. Some sought his loyalty and affection. Some sought to make him theirs, completely.

He was a leader of men without a kingdom or land to call home. Or men to follow.

But, perhaps, two followers might a leader make.

* * *

AN: I don't know what was harder about this, keeping it going in the same general direction that I was aiming for...or keeping Alucard remotely in character while showing some evolution of thought. Not sure I managed, honestly, but after a point one has to give in and go with it.

A lot of (continued) research into Vlad III Draculea went into this. Interesting fellow. Have to say, once you read about him, he's a bit less despicable.

Hopefully, the chapter maintained enough coherence to prove a worthy read. If not, sorry. I'm thinking it may be time for more Winter love. If not, then Aidan and Maureen. Not sure.

We shall see what the morrow sees fit to bring.

Til next time.


	13. ‘never underestimate the allure of amnes

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: No one deserves the ignominy of this chapter...

Note: Complete rubbish. I apologize. It was all my sad migraine belaguered brain could come up with. So...in advance I warn that it really is rather pointless and completely plotless. I don't really expect any reviews.

The good news is that tomorrow really WILL be Winter. An idea already started establishing itself...not in time to save today though. Sigh.

* * *

prompt: news, letter

**'never underestimate the allure of amnesty'**

**-**

**-  
**

As every great culture tries to look back at its own past, or the histories of others, an idea very close to truth comes to mind: history is written by the winners. In most cases, this is close enough to the truth to not matter. Still, it isn't the truth in its entirety, as such phrases rarely are. The truth is a bit more cheap and ever more realistic.

History is written by those with the best PR.

In most cases, the ideas are synonymous. Those who win (usually) have the best leaders. The best leaders are those who can incite their men into action and win loyalty, for themselves or their cause. Or, at least, they have people who can do that for them.

Still, you look at King Leonidas and his 300 men and you begin to understand the concept of _real_ PR at it's finest.

So, in the end, history is just another word for people who tell their stories in the way that makes them sound best. _Fact,_ well, that is born from those, like myself, who really don't care about being famous. We have no loyalties, no causes. We observe, we note, we keep the truth.

Now, occasionally, we find something rare, something that is fact and truth mixed with legend and cause. Then we take note. In most cases, legends are fools' myths to keep themselves motivated that their cause and their land is worth the attention they pay to it. But, in rare circumstances, there is fact under the mythos.

And that is when I take interest.

--

Around the turn of the 21st century, rumors began to circulate about a vampire in servitude to the Hellsing line. It had been my particular note that this was old news as the binding ritual had taken place more than a century before, but rumors of a woman got my attention. So this investigative historian made his way to jolly old England and looked into the matter.

Just in time for Nazi hell to break loose.

One must be grateful to every opportunity, so I took notes. Not-neo-Nazi antics aside, the war, which should truly be more correctly termed as a battle, was a thing of beauty. In essence of pure destruction, it was a success. Most of old London was gone in an instant leaving them to spend the next thirty odd years in a process of restoration.

All good for history, but that is a different article. In this section, I must pay homage to a rather fascinating creature known as Seras Victoria.

Insubstantial research leads me to believe that she was born into a middle class family, father was a police officer, and was raised in much the standard. With no living grandparents, after the somewhat brutal death of her parents, she was sent to live at an orphanage where she fought. A lot. Signs of a tendency for violence showed at an early age with some records indicating fights as early as her first year of primary.

Not to mention stabbing one of her parents' murders in the eye with a fork.

Unable to find adoption, she remained in the orphanage until they threw her out at eighteen. From there she joined the police academy and was assigned to a small village named Cheddar. It was shortly after this point that she met up with the vampire most presently known as Alucard. He thus turned her into a vampire herself and brought her to the Hellsing Institute.

All well in good, but fairly boring. Every vampire has a story and this was not so unusual from the others. Until one considered two facts. First, her sire was the one and only Vlad III Draculea, also known as Vlad the Impaler, also known as Count Dracula (a fairly rubbish pseudo-title).

Second, she refused blood.

Sources report, and we do have spies everywhere – they need not be vampires, that she did not touch a single drop of blood after her turning. For most vampires, this would constitute as an almost immediate death sentence (or the surefire murder of every human being in sight). However, perhaps due to her rather infamous sire, she was able to resist, falling into blood lust only when acting out her missions for the Hellsing Institute.

It must be noted that the lack of bloodlust in a fresh vampire is almost non existent. To hear of a new fledgling resisting the call of that delectable red liquid, is as if to hear of God coming to the local drug store and asking for a pack of cigarettes. It just doesn't happen. Yet, she managed. In fact, she kept without blood until the attack of the Nazis-that-weren't launched on the Hellsing Institute proper. Only then did she take in the life substance.

The fact that reports indicate her blood was from a willing source is indicative to a level of loyalty given from humans that is very rare for our kind. Especially when, shortly after, she is believed to have singlehandedly finished the job of taking out all intruders on the property and then flown to London. As rare as it is to see a fledgling to refuse blood, it is almost as rare to see one take to new abilities so quickly. Reported to have completely regenerated all but one arm from the battle and then flown to London, this shows more than one ability formed instantaneously.

Issues of her participation in any fights in London itself are sketchy. Having a fairly old master vampire get in two successive grand scale fights leaves few witnesses around to report on much of anything aside of "oh god, oh god, there was so much blood."

Her activities after the Millennium incident, however, became something of particular note. Sire elsewhere (apparently EVERY elsewhere, too) and without any mortal family or obligation, Miss Victoria kept a solemn oath to the Hellsing Institute and continued to use her now formidable powers to assist in the destruction of rogue vampires.

Speculation arises as to her exact reasoning behind these actions, seeing as she was more or less killing her own kind without so much as a blood tie or binding to make her do it. This historian has the personal belief that she did it out of affection for the current head of the institute. Or perhaps due to the simple idea that she had no where else to go.

One can argue any which way.

All arguments aside, it is fairly well documented that she excelled in her role as Hellsing's only vampire trump card. In the period immediately following the Millennium fracas, several vampires saw fit to stage a series of attacks on the Institute itself. Most of them were chump change and not particularly worth not except in an account of her numbers defeated.

Some attribute it to the bravado and others to the need to fill one's duty when one is the only one left to do it, but her efficiency in ridding the Institute of it's attackers was near awing. Left with only a handful of soldiers (mercenary at that), her role became both defensive and offensive. Still armed with a weapon that would make anti-aircraft machinery blush, she managed to do both simultaneously. It was reported that after singlehandedly taking out over a hundred ghouls, she went on to decapitate and rip the heart out of the vampires that sent them within a minute of each other.

Whilst laughing.

Continued bloodlust aside, her status allowed for the interior reconstruction and rejuvenation of the destroyed Hellsing Institute over the course of the following years. Reports confirm that she was quickly made chief advisor to Sir Hellsing and was often found to be training the newest recruits in combat and "How not to shit yourself when coming across a vampire" 101.

Far more effective when one's arm became any thing one desired.

Only one incident comes into reference in which she was close to receiving defeat. After her fifteenth year in the ranks, she was ambushed by two true Nosferatu (as true as you can get and still ambush a petite woman shortly before dawn). Accounts vary on the actual actions taken, but sources say that she spent the next hour or more muttering about 'goddamn rapists' and 'absentee masters.' Little could be said further as there was almost nothing left remaining of the dissected and drained vampires that had thought to attack her.

After that, things began to settle until her sire returned once more. In the year or more that followed his return, her presence outside of the Institute began to fall. Inside sources report that her task as chief advisor more or less remained intact (especially as her sire's sanity was most often called into question). The bond of being the only constant in each other's life led to a more casual relationship between herself and Sir Hellsing. Where this left the master vampire, little is known. His reclusive nature to any but his fledgling and his 'master' gave observers little ability to gauge his reaction.

It was also at this time that the master/servant bond of the two was broken. Insiders speculated that this might also cause a break of Miss Victoria from Hellsing altogether as she no longer had any binding to the place at all. Yet, she remained, happy to serve her human master as ever. If anything, she became more involved as the Sir Hellsing married and shortly after became pregnant (an unexpected development for all).

Not long after the child was born, Sir Hellsing sealed the Hellsing pet once more, reportedly to give her child some experience of a life without vampires. It was also at this time that Miss Victoria underwent a minor form of the binding ritual and allowed herself to be sealed alongside her former master.

One can only speculate as to the insanity behind this bit of logic, but women were always a bit insane.

Much of what happened afterward fed into vampire legend of why not to trust human beings. Not much longer than a decade past their release, the two vampires were sealed (against Sir Hellsing's dying wishes it must be noted) by her wayward heir. All this was after a careful plot to set them up brutal killers and betrayers of the uneasy truce between the Hellsing Institute and the then weak Iscariot.

During the following decades, her exploits, then only famous in western Europe, began to circulate through the general populace of the vampire world. The idea of a vampire that held back their true nature long enough to fight willingly alongside a human institution was fascinating to all generations of vampire. Some admired her will, others her determination to stay true to the self that only she created (not her sire). Many others criticized but understood her devotion to the human Hellsing (after all, we were all human once).

Word of the betrayal became a rally amongst anti-human activists. She had so long served the human institution only to be treated like a monster, a dog to be put down. The idea that trust between humans and vampires could not exist in any form fed over the years until the name Seras Victoria was a symbol of both amazing fortitude, courage and loyalty and everything that vampires should not do.

It became the battle cry many used during the mass uprisings after the plague. With a single idea, entire countries fell to the vampires and others were laid hostage to the whims of vampiric attack.

Ironic that a woman who loved humans so much became the basis of human genocide in many lands.

More ironic still that after her release, she resumed work at the Institute and is in large part responsible for the return of Romania to human leadership.

But that is a different entry.

-

_--Excerpt from the personal diary of Nikolai, Historian_

* * *

An: Yeah, Nikolai. The one that didn't die. As I said, there really is no purpose here...just kind of a vague idea of what went on while we weren't watching. Still, Nikolai (should I ever get around to writing actual sequels) will play something of a part in any story I write further in this universe.

Because if I were going to be immortal, I'd probably wander around writing history books. Maybe. Sarcastic commentary included.

So...again...sorry. See all of you tomorrow. I hope.

Til next time!


	14. ‘a chance that I might not come back’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my bestest friendest in the whole wide worldest, who put up with me yesterday. and to Metropolis Kid, pop-virgo97, phoenix251 and Angel Reaper who all reviewed that interesting bit of whatever I posted yesterday. Actually helped me feel better. Thanks.

Note: This started out being about Winter and then kinda turned into being more about Elliot. Either way its a bit cheesy. Ah well, sappiness is required every now and again.

* * *

prompt: sound of waves

'**a chance that I might not come back'**

More than any other thing, Elliot reminded her of water. Not the murky and still rotting depths of the Thames, but the calm waters of the lake country and the vast expanse of the ocean. She couldn't precisely say when this comparison first came to mind, but it still seemed to fit regardless of how old they got.

Water was deceptive. On the surface it looked calm, rhythmic and beautiful. It's exterior more often than not hid the secrets of its depths. Undercurrents and wildlife, both beautiful and dangerous, roamed just below the surface, visible only to those who looked.

And that was Elliot to her.

**~x~**

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong, Wynne?"

"You've been reading that book for about thirty minutes."

"And?"

"You haven't turned the page."

"Got me."

"So what's up?"

"Just…tired."

**~x~**

Though he would never say it, the knowledge of who he was and his position in the world weighed heavily on his shoulders. She could not remember a time when both of them had not known what his fate was. It might have been because of this that he very rarely laughed and played like kids his age might have. More often than not, he spent his extra hours reading books and studying where his father's teachings left off.

His every smile was a rarity and one she often sought through the years. They came most often during their lessons with her cousin. Aidan's humor bit through all solemnity and allowed Elliot to be a kid for a few hours each week. But the lessons would end and his smile would fade and she was left with the sad knowledge that she was not usually enough to bring a smile to his face.

They grew up and slowly, their lives began taking different routes. The training for a leader and a killer were vastly different and while she still attended schooling lessons, most of her hours were centered in combat training with her father. Occasionally, Elliot was sent to work with her, mostly learning the proper use of a gun, but his heart wasn't in it.

He'd always hated violence.

Years passed and over time she began to understand just what fate had done to him. There he was, still young and handsome, a man of intelligence and charm – when he could be bothered – devoted to a life of violence and gore. He was a natural born leader, always able to gain loyalty and love with the smallest of actions and gestures. He should have been able to take up a seat in Parliament, to serve his country by making it better through words and law.

Not by devoting his life to death.

**~x~**

"You know, Master Elliot, you are really something of an expert marksman. Must be in the blood."

"Thank you, Uncle Jamie."

"It's a shame that you don't have time for further lessons. An important man like you needs to know how to defend himself in close quarters."

"That's what he has me for, Da."

"Yes, Wynnie, but as a man, I'm sure he won't always be wanting you to protect him."

"Especially not _from _you."

"Indeed. She does have a bit of a temper."

"Both of you are asking for it, you know."

"All the same, Master Elliot, you let me know when you want to take a few more lessons."

"Well…we'll see. I think its best that I keep to my other studies for the moment."

"Understandable but don't let yourself get too bogged down in the books, son. Too much death in one sitting is bad for the soul."

"Yes, I'm sure it is."

**~x~**

He grew quieter as he got older. She was fairly sure that he didn't realize it himself so she didn't bother to ask why. Still, their random conversations and playful banter grew less and less as the years rolled on. More often than not, he would merely sit in one of the common rooms and stare off into the distance at things only he could see. She forced herself to be honest and realize that he did it most often with her in the room. If it was for companionship or just the knowledge that she was least likely to interrupt his silent musings, she didn't know. All the same, she felt like he was slipping away from her.

Aidan still managed to bring out a smile from time to time and he conversed as usual with his father during their lecture periods. Most of the Institute would not guess at his growing reticence, he kept it so close to himself.

She could see it, though, and it tore her apart to watch. Though silent, the turbulence of his inner thoughts washed through the room each time he sat in thought. They grew so strong as time passed that she began to wonder if she would drown in everything he refused to say. She began to wonder if she would ever be able to save him from it.

As much as it pained her, she began to quietly excuse herself from the room after the silence began to stretch beyond an hour. Heavy hearted, she began to spend more and more time with her father in the practice areas. Was it her tendency for violence, she would wonder as the sparred. Was it the fact that one of the things in life he truly abhorred was something she embodied so completely?

Quietly, without a trace of farewell, she was beginning to lose him.

**~x~**

"When are you going to start talking to me again?"

"You are mad, Winter. I've been talking to you all day."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Can't say that I do. I talk to you everyday. Most of the day, really."

"You talk but you don't say anything."

"Is that women's logic?"

"I can stab you without killing you, Elliot."

"I'm sure you can. You are very good at that sort of thing."

"…As are you, I see."

**~x~**

Tragedy struck hard. After a short break and a time spent in hope that he might be returning to her, they returned to bloodshed and sorrow. She remembered wondering at how odd it was that they should lose their mothers and then their fathers at the same time. It was as if the world were making them a match set or as if their parents were only parts of the same person.

Loss makes philosophers of us all.

And her loss was absolute.

He pulled even farther away as he assumed the mantle of the head of Hellsing. His silence was echoing and she wanted to throw a fit of temper as she watched him ignore his every emotion. She could only step up and take her place in the ranks as she knew she always would. She couldn't convince him to talk to her, but she could support him in the only way left to her.

And then it happened, a month after the tragedy of death. She went to him one night where he sat alone, staring into the fire blazing at the hearth. A quick touch, meant only to gain his attention and let him know she was there, and suddenly he was back. He pulled her to him, sobbing, and for the first time in years, they talked.

**~x~**

"The hope was always there, you know."

"What hope?"

"That he would have another child. He would get married and have another heir."

"I know you always wanted a bigger family Elliot but…."

"Well, that too, but…Wynne, I don't want to do this."

"You mean the Institute?"

"I don't want to be in charge of this place. I _hate_ fighting and I _hate_ all the death. I know what we are doing here is important and good and it _needs_ to be done but…."

"But you'd always hoped someone else would be able to do it instead."

"Yeah, I guess I had."

"Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me help you. Let me be the one to destroy for you."

"I can't ask you to – "

"You aren't asking. I'm offering. Besides, I'm good at it."

"But…what if I lose you, too?"

"Simple. You won't."

**~x~**

Things began to calm after that and the restlessness of his emotions began to resemble something more to a river than serene lake. Neither spoke again of the night he broke down but neither pretended it didn't happen. Months passed, and then years, without much happening. She could still remember, though, what it was like to walk alone to a mission for the first time.

Well before her father's death, she had begun to accompany him to the various missions that were easier taken care of with a small party of people rather than a large contingent of soldiers. She was long used to the practice of hunting vampire prey and she had long since stopped being nervous as she stepped into the fray.

Yet, there she had been, alone. There was no father to back her up and the group of soldiers she was to use for back up were still waiting for orders outside. Her confidence faltered and it nearly cost her everything. Instincts kicked in after that, though, and without effort, she dispatched the vampire and its ghouls.

Elliot still stared at the cut on her arm with a frown and was reluctant to send her only any mission by herself for another month. Soon, however, it began to become necessary. Attacks were being reported in from every corner of the country and before long, she was sent out without even a group of soldiers for backup. He tried, overtime, to be there waiting for her just outside the danger zone, but it was never a guarantee.

She wondered if that was what tipped the scales in his decision to wake the pet vampire.

**~x~**

"I'm not fragile, Elliot."

"I'll say."

"And I'm fairly well versed in killing things. Especially undead things."

"Yes, you are."

"So stop pretending like I'm going to drop dead every mission."

"I think not."

**~x~**

Time passed, as it always did. The seasons changed and the atmosphere of the world they had always known began to lighten, in most part due to a certain vampire. Part of her admitted jealousy towards the pretty draculina. She took up a place in Elliot's heart that she herself would never fill. Her more rational mind told her that the last thing she wanted him to see her as was a sister but that didn't stop the irrationality of her thoughts tingeing towards desolation that he found comfort in the presence of another.

All the same, the day came when he kissed her in front of the entire assembled troops and the action declared himself to her in more ways than one. The incident was widely gossiped about and that bastard vampire continued to make jokes about it for months, stopping only when her pregnancy indicated that further things had happened.

The night they first allowed themselves to be only for the other would live on in her mind for the rest of her life, simple and beautiful.

He began to smile more and his laughter became something a bit more ordinary. When the vampires began to recess for a longer period, he began to relax more. When she showed pregnancy, he laughed delightedly, both for the prospect of a child and for the ability to detain her at home. When they she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, he didn't stop smiling for weeks.

She still thought of him as water, even as the emotions began to come close to the surface and more easy for the world to see. Strong and ever present, he was what she needed to stay alive. And she told him once, years later, as they stood on the sandy beach one night, watching the children play wildly with each other. The sound of the ocean lapping softly at the shore harmonized with her soft whispers, giving them poignancy they might otherwise have lacked.

And then the shrill laughter of a captured child broke through their little world and the moment passed, like so much water under a bridge.

Because that was water, too. Ever moving, ever changing and ever adapting. It could be harsh and change the world around it in a single motion or wear through the environment it belonged to slowly over the course of years. It was all of that.

And so was he.

**~x~**

"You are all I have, you know, Elliot."

"I beg to differ, Wynne. There are a mass of people who would probably be very upset to hear you say that."

"True, but, one day, all of them will leave. They will have their own lives, even Hope."

"Not entirely true in the case of some of them, but I'll see your argument."

"You won't leave though."

"Never."

"And you are all that I need."

"I'm sure you need more than just me."

"Nope. You are like water, you know. You keep me alive even in the worst times."

"Well, then, you know what, Winter my love?"

"Mm?"

"You are like water, too."

* * *

An: So, I'm thinking Monday will be devoted to Aidan and Maureen. I hope I can get to it before the start of the week so I can get ahead on the story writing process like I was in the beginning. This leads to less randomness in the end.

After those two I think we will be seeing another Alucard chapter summing up Seras' pregancy.

I need to get people settled so i can start work on the fun with the Mischievious Triumvirate. I already have a few of their stories planned well into their teenage years so I'm a little anxious to get started. Still, first things first, right?

Thank you for another lovely week of reviews. This has turned out to be an even bigger challenge than I thought it would. Still, its been good. Keeps me busy.

Til next time.


	15. ‘she beats me regularly’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Srar, a friend of mine from long ago come again, to Metropolis Kid who seems to look forward to Aidan and Maureen more than I do.

Note: I was totally watching Firefly this weekend so yeah, there is a tinge of Joss in the dialogue. Brownie points to those who catch it.

* * *

prompt: if only I could make you mine

'**she beats me regularly'**

Eloping was never as easy as it sounded.

Especially when she kept refusing to marry you.

**~x~**

"You practically proposed to _me_, flower of my heart. So why are you pulling up stiff now?"

She rolled her eyes at him as they sat next to each other on the transport to London. Only a day after graduation, they had made their clandestine get away without telling their parents or any one else where they were going or why. The situation was decidedly odd to Aidan since he had never had any particular reason to keep secrets from his parents, nor did he about this either, in point of fact. More odd for the fact that, even though they were running away together, they hadn't even really showed each other any signs of overt affection.

Hell, they'd barely kissed.

"Aidan, I love you. I've loved you for most of my life. But, even though we've known each other since we were six years old, we don't really know each other well enough to be married."

"We know each other more than a lot of newlywed couples," he argued, wondering if it would be okay to put his arm around her outright or if he'd have to do the whole yawn-stretch-reach thing.

"We still don't know about a lot of the very basic things. We never saw each other outside of school, really."

She eyed him carefully, small smirk on her face as if she could judge exactly what his thoughts were. She probably could too. Too bad the smirk didn't tell him if she'd mind having his arm around her.

"We sat and ate lunch together nearly every day for the better part of our _lives_. I'm fairly sure I know you well enough to marry you. I'm sure you know me well enough too."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay then, what's my favorite color?"

"Blue. Usually lighter but sometimes you go for the darker blues."

She frowned.

"My favorite band?"  
"You don't have one. You prefer classical music overall but you will listen to modern alt rock."

The furrow between her eyebrows grew deeper and he had the sudden urge to poke it. Thankfully, he was able to resist the urge, as that would surely get him slapped.

"How do you know that? I don't even listen to music at school."

He grinned. "I told you we probably knew each other better than you think. You probably even know what my favorite color is, too."

"Black."

"My point."

Her eyes narrowed and he wondered for a moment if she were angry (_why_ he had no idea) before a small smirk perked up the tips of her lips.

"You don't know how I like to be kissed."

Grin bursting onto his face, he cupped the back of her neck in one hand and drew her to him.

"We'll just have to fix that."

**~x~**

"Care to share how you managed to afford a year lease on a two bedroom apartment paying in total up front?"

She grinned at him mischievously. "Told you, you didn't know everything about me."

"I'm beginning to learn. We never did have an in-depth conversation about financials, did we?" He scratched his head, the gesture full of embarrassment. "That's not really like me, is it? To not confirm details."

She pat him on the shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. You _did_ ask about the money aspect. I just told you it was taken care of."

"Still not like me." He shrugged. "I thought you had a job lined up, honestly. Not that I was prepared to let you take care of the rent, anyway."

"Oh?" She asked as she put the key into the lock of their new apartment.

"Well, you may be surprised by this, but I'm loaded."

She gave him a measuring look before opening the door. "In the vein of getting to know each other better, how much money do you have and how much money is _yours_ and not your parents?"

"Filthy disgusting amounts of money and all of it is mine."

She blinked, somewhat at a loss for words. "And you let me rent out this apartment in the cheaper part of town…why?"

"Because you paid for it entirely in advance without talking it over with me?" He grinned, dropping their bags on the floor just inside the door.

"See, told you we didn't know each other well enough yet."

He shrugged, acknowledging the point before mischief crept back into his eyes. He closed the door and locked it, grinning devilishly.

"So, two bedrooms then? I don't see the need for tha- Ow!"

She laughed, skipping way from him and into one of the bedrooms with a look of pure joy in her eyes as she glanced back at him, daringly.

His instinct to chase her was momentarily put on pause as he stood in awe. Realization struck that he had never heard her laugh like that. He had the sudden desire to hear her laugh more. A lot more.

"So," he called out, approaching her room with a grin. "What are we going to do with the extra bedroom?"

**~x~**

"I feel like I'm meeting the in-laws."

He grinned, nuzzling into the curve of her neck for a moment before peering over her shoulder at what she was cooking.

"You've already met my parents."

"Only briefly. And when I was fifteen," she argued, turning her shoulders to offer him a taste of the sauce.

"Mm, that's good." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, grinning at her blush as her eyes darted out the door as if to verify that their guests hadn't managed to materialize out of nothingness. "Still, my parents like you."

"Beside the point."

"And you've already met Winter."

She rolled her eyes, turning around to face him. She tried to take a step back to give her some room to talk to him properly, but hit the counter. He grinned down at her and silently refused to budge. She was entirely too much fun to tease. Who would ever have guessed that she was so unaccustomed to romantically inclined physical contact? His smile only grew when she gave him a quick glare.

"Winter is one thing. Hell, Winter and Elliot would be one thing. The two of them _and_ their fathers is something a bit nerve-wracking."

He shrugged. "Uncle Jamie is pretty cool. Sir Charles is, too, just watch out for his dry humor. It'll sneak up on you."

She sighed and forced her way past him. "Not sure why you wanted to have this dinner when we've barely been here for a month." She sunk down on the couch with a frown. "How did you explain to them about our relationship?"

He sat down beside her before dragging her into his lap. "I told them that you are my future fiancée."

"Aidan!"

"I told them that I was desperately in love with you but you were a mean woman who refused to marry me and insist that we live in sin –"

"It's hardly sin if we aren't sleeping together."

"- a fact I intend to remedy, actually –"

"Is that _all_ you think about?"

" – and that I was going to woo you until you succumbed to my charms and agreed to be mine." He grinned. "And no. I think about where the best places would be, too. That counter in the kitchen would be _amazing_ –"

He broke off as she put a hand over his mouth, cheeks aflame.

"I think we should worry about the…um…I think I'd prefer the bed before the kitchen."

Laughing, he stood, holding her bridal style in his arms and grinned down at her. "Well, if you are so anxious to get started."

She shrieked laughter and shoved his hands away, stumbling ungracefully out of his grasp (he made sure she didn't fall straight to the floor).

"We'll talk after dinner."

"That sounds promising."

**~x~**

When they moved to London, his Uncle Jamie had insisted he start taking combat lessons again. He was forced through all the same drills that Winter was (and that girl was _tough_). He couldn't say he minded all that much, gave him a chance to vent out his frustrations (both kinds). Physical activity was healthsome and good.

And it kept him from being bored at home. Maureen started taking classes in Summer instead of waiting for Fall so she was gone most days. They hadn't been able to move their collective library yet and there was only so many times he could disassemble and reassemble the viewer. So, all in all, he looked at it as a positive thing.

Except, like everything else, he was good at it.

Oh, he was far from being as good as Winter in technical skill, but his physical abilities combined with his instant strategy technique led to winning almost as many fights as he lost against her and her father. And it never pays to shine as a good fighter in an organization devoted to fighting.

And that's how he found himself going along with his cousin on a few of her missions with her father. Did he find it slightly embarrassing to be paired up in a team with a fourteen-year-old slip of a girl? Hell no. She kicked so much ass and he was fairly proud of that.

Did he much prefer the idea of being the _technical_ specialist for the Hellsing Institute? Oh hell yes.

But beggars and choosers. He was content in the knowledge that he was helping out and being useful.

Still, coming home at 11 o'clock at night covered in gore and guts after spending all day sparring with the selfsame chick who had effortlessly taken out twenty ghouls was not at the top of his list. Even if it did earn him homecooked dinners from Maureen and frowns of worry as pulled out the gigantic bottle of stain remover.

"Face it, you like it."

"And why do you say that, Irish Deviltry?"

She flicked the blood off of her blade and grinned at him.

"Helps you relieve all that sexual frustration building up between you and Maureen."

He stared at her, momentarily struck speechless.

"Aside of for the purposes of making me desire an entire bottle of _mind_ bleach, why on earth would you say that?"

"Come on, Aidan," she retorted, rolling her eyes and walking away from the scene of destruction and mayhem. "I can feel it practically at the Institute. Not that I can blame her. Not sure I know why _anyone_ would want to sleep with you. Or live with you for that matter. Maureen has my undying respect…and worrisome desire to send her to a shrink."

"Okay," he groaned. "Can you _not_ talk about that? You are grossing me out. For all intents and purposes, you are my little sister. Ew."

"Totally not giving you back the highground on this one, loser. I so rarely get the chance to taunt _you._"

"Fair enough."

"Come on back to the Institute. Take a shower here and be clean for your too-tolerant lady."

He complied, cursing at every cut that stung sharply as it was run over by hot water, grit and gore. The day had been particularly rough, losing three rounds to one to Winter and two to zero to his uncle. Add on two vampires and a mess of ghouls, plus a bit of a headache from being slammed into a wall by an ill-timed explosion, and he was more than happy for the day to be done and completely forgotten about.

And then he walked into the apartment and found her.

Lounging on the bare carpet with a gamine grin and a glass of champagne.

In fancy matching underwear.

And nothing else.

"Best. Day. Ever."

He slammed the door shut behind him and pounced.

**~x~**

One bedroom apartments rocked.

**~x~**

He hated Wednesdays. With an extra early lab in the morning, she was usually crawling out of bed only a handful of hours after he had crawled in. He hated it, loathed it, made her promise not to do something so stupid in her scheduling again.

He hated the way the air rushed in cold against his flesh as she slowly pealed herself away from him. He hated the way he could never sleep through her departure and instead was forced to consciously watch her pull away. He hated the small smile she gave him telling him that she'd much prefer to stay in bed with him.

He hated watching her disappear into the bathroom and listening to her wash the smell of what they'd been up to in the night hours from her flesh, washing the smell of _him_ away. Especially since he couldn't get away from the smell of her as he lay there in bed and usually even gave up, burrowing his head into her pillow. He hated watching her slowly dress in the light of the barely risen sun.

He hated watching her crawl over the bed to give him a kiss goodbye. He hated that he couldn't knock her off balance and mar the perfectly pressed clothes. He hated that he couldn't persuade her to stay home instead of going because, even if he did, she'd regret it later.

He hated watching her step outside of the door and close it behind her, leaving him alone.

**~x~**

"Marry me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure I want you around that long."

"Which is why you are taking my pants off."

"I never said anything about right now."

**~x~**

"You are surprisingly awesome at video games."

"So are you for someone cloistered in a mansion outside of town."

Winter shrugged. "I bullied my dad into it. He didn't fight too hard. He likes to play too."

"So does my father, in point of fact."

The two girls grinned at each other before turning back to their game, a complex third person shooter. Their skills and desire to play the game fascinated him and he found himself more than willing to give up on some of his personal one-on-one time with the console to watch his two favorite girls play.

"You would make an awesome sister-in-law."

"I didn't know you had a brother you wanted me to marry."

"That one," she laughed, pointing over her shoulder at him, "is the closest thing I've got. So, whenever you get around to marrying him, I _will_ refer to you as my sister-in-law for at _least_ the first six months of your marriage."

"You could always call me sister straight up."

"So does that mean you are planning on marrying me then?"

She looked over her shoulder at him with a grin.

"No such thing."

"Can't say I blame you," Winter commented. "He is a bit of a git."

**~x~**

"Your mother called."

She looked up from where she stood cooking dinner and frowned.

"What'd she have to say?"

"Oh, she left a message," he replied, looking over her shoulder for a moment before dropping a kiss on her neck and settling into one of the chairs at the table.

"I'll listen to it later. I'm in too good a mood to put up with it right now."

He nodded, pulling out some grafting paper and a notepad. The silence grew long as they both tended to their own projects, thoughts in other places. It was companionable, though, and he was startled when a few minutes later she tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a bowl of food. Looking up at the clock, he found that he'd been working on his design for nearly twenty minutes.

She grinned at him. "Another patent you are going to sell off?"

He shook his head and put his work aside. "You'll see."

She shrugged and put a bite of food in her mouth, shoulders relaxing a bit as the flavors hit her mouth.

He watched her enjoy her food in a joy so simple he still, more than two years later, couldn't quite relate to. Sometimes he wondered if all the joys in her life were built on the small things and if that was why she found things like food and video games so delightful.

"Does your mom know you are living with me?"

"Nope," she responded with a chuckle. "Dad does."

"Does she always talk to you like that?"

She paused, fork midway to her mouth, before sighing and biting down on the metal.

"Yep."

"Can I punch her in the face when I finally meet her?"

Choking slightly, she swallowed hard and came up for air, tears in her eyes and laughter exploding from her chest. Midway between coughing and laughing, she stood from her chair and hobbled over to him, laying a loud smack on his lips.

"Please do."

**~x~**

"Okay, that was _far_ worse than the first dinner with your London family."

He chuckled low in his throat before pulling her away from the front door and sweeping her off her feet. "I'll tell Uncle Jamie and Sir Charlie that they are more relaxing to be around than my parents. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of that."

"Don't get me wrong," she protest, pausing as he deposited her on the bed, "I really like your parents. I think I'll get along very well with your mother in the future."

"More than I can say about _your_ mother," he muttered as he began to unbutton her shirt.

"And I think your dad is very nice. They are just…well, I was nervous."

He paused in his ministrations long enough to give her a quick kiss. "I told you that there was no point in that. They loved you."

"And you know that for sure do you?"

"Yep," he affirmed with a grin, moving down to unbutton her blue jeans. "They told me when I walked them down to the car."

"Well that's good." She grinned, relieved, before her expression turned to one of suspicion. "What are you doing?"

He stepped away and looked down at her, shirt unbuttoned and opened, pants unfastened. Both of the outer clothes gave just enough of a peek at her lacy underwear that it made him grin.

"There is something about this picture of you laying tousled on the bed that is just damn satisfying. Especially as my parents are probably talking about what a nice and proper girl you are."

She rolled her eyes and leaned up enough to grab him by the shirt and pull him down on top of her. "You are such a pervert."

"And proudly so, Sexy Sylph."

He leaned in to kiss her but she put a hand in front of her face.

"First, how did you preface me to them? You didn't give me a 'title' when you introduced them earlier."

"I told them," he replied, nibbling on one of her fingers lightly, "that you were the woman I was going to marry."

"So you keep saying."

"One day I'll convince you."

She moaned softly as he turned his attention to her neck. "Keep doing that and you just might."

"Tease."

**~x~**

"Why won't you marry me?"

She didn't look away from the window, staring out at the torrential rains that poured over the entire city. Like a cloth pulled over a lamp, the world was coated in grey. Even their apartment was cast in shades of blue and black as she had insisted in keeping the lights off so she could enjoy the storm.

"Maureen, please. We've been living in London together for almost four years. You are just about to graduate from university so you can't say that is the reason. There are no fiscal problems as I'm loaded, and employed, for that matter. You have more than one job lined up."

He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as he looked at her turned head.

"You know I love you. So…why?"

"I love you, Aidan. You know that," she sighed, meeting his eyes through the reflection of the glass.

"I sincerely hope that is not the reason, Maureen."

"It is though, in part." She focused her eyes on the chaos outside the window once more. "It's what you do, Aidan. I never know if you are going to come home from one of the missions you agree to go on. They aren't that frequent I know but…even if its once a month, that's twelve times a year when I stay up waiting for you to come home to me."

He stared at her, shocked. In all the time she had known about the Hellsing Institute and what they were there for and what he did for them, she had never said anything like this.

"I'd always kind of hoped you would choose to do something different with your life. You would play their consultant, sure, but…I hate it when you go to fight them."

"You can't ask me to leave them, Maureen. I can't do it."

She finally turned to face him, tears in her eyes. "I know. But you can't ask me to marry you knowing that at any day, you could turn me into a widow."

For a moment, he couldn't speak as his throat did weird things while he tried to choke out his next question.

"So, does that mean you are leaving me?"

She turned back to the window and to the drops of rain that crashed full tilt against the glass.

"Not yet."

**~x~**

It was also raining the day of the funeral.

Death was hard enough when it didn't come in pairs. It was even worse when you not only loved but truly respected those who had passed on. In some part, he was slightly amazed at how hard the loss struck him when he dealt in death so often. As part of the 'management' of the Institute, he had attended many funerals for those who had fallen in the years past.

None could compare to this.

She stood beside him, arm firmly around Winter as they watched Elliot give a quiet eulogy. His cousin looked shattered and the new Sir Hellsing didn't look anything at the moment, the pain hadn't filtered in yet.

Rain poured around them as they stood under the waxed cloth tent. The roar made the priest's words redundant as it was clear the Lord and his angel's were already crying for the loss. Odd how a state funeral could be so mundane and ordinary, even if the Queen stood in their assembly, dabbing her eyes politely.

She wasn't that much older than he was as it was.

They departed quietly, Sir Elliot as he was now (the knighting had happened earlier in the day), speaking in hushed tones with the Queen. Maureen, more subdued than usual, pulled an unresisting Winter away from the private cemetery and into the car. Why they still used the plots at the destroyed Hellsing Manor, he could only guess.

The ride back to the Tower seemed endless. Silence sat heavy on them like a physical presence, a devil of sorts that forbid them from speaking. Still, at last it ended and Maureen took Winter in hand, leading her to her private quarters. He took his turn and guided Elliot to the brandy decanter and the two drank in quiet until Maureen reemerged more than an hour later, breaking the bond of men. Elliot quietly excused himself and, for the first time in well more than a month, the two were alone.

"You are moving in here aren't you?"

The words were addressed to one of the windows that looked out to the rain and a sense of de ja vu flashed over him. He began to think, as he looked at her in her black finery, that whatever she had to say, it did not bode well.

"Yeah, I am. I promised myself and God that I would take care of those two and help them in what they needed to do. I…I can't break that promise. If I'm this clever, it has to be for a reason."

She nodded, a sparkle of light catching reflection on her face and he thought she might be crying.

"I'm pregnant, you know."

His jaw fell slack and his eyes grew wide. His mind completely blank, it took him a minute to formulate a reply but before he could get the words out, she cut him off.

"I'm not moving here with you, Aidan."

"But you just said…."

"I'm not raising a baby in a place full of death. I won't do it." She shook her head and brought a hand up to her cheek, wiping at the moisture there.

"It's not always about death, Maureen. It's about saving people."

She finally turned around and gave him a weary smile filled with regret and sad understanding.

"I know. What they do here matters every bit as much as the police force and the military." She gave a watery chuckle. "Perhaps more. I'm not entirely sure our military is worth much."

"If you know then, why?"

She walked over to him, reaching up to place her hands softly on his cheeks. "I can't lose you. I can't stand the thought of counting the seconds until you come home. I can't watch you leave on a mission knowing full well that you might never come back. I just can't."

"So," he choked out, "leaving me alone helps? Does distance make the fear go away?"

She shrugged, the action defeatist. "Maybe. Maybe if you are always gone, it will be one big worry instead of instances of agony. Maybe, I'll be able to move on and find someone who won't be devoting his life to death."

"No!" He growled, grabbing her arms and shaking her slightly. "You can leave me and not live here, but you will not just abandon me for someone else. You gave me the choice years ago to let you leave or to build something with you and I _made_ that choice! You will not break it now."

She nodded slowly, cold tears running down her cheeks. "So you want me to just love you even though I won't be with you?"

He pulled her into his arms and burrowed his face in her hair. "Well, if it makes it any better, I'll be doing the same."

"Oh, Aidan. I just…I don't know what to do. I just…I can't do _this_. I can't live here and see all this. I've got to bring our child into a world that is apart from constant death and violence and…."

She trailed off, burrowing her face into his chest. He couldn't anything to say that would give her any answer and he refused to spout of some platitude just to make her feel better. The silence dragged on until she pulled away.

"I've got to go."

He nodded with a sigh. She wiped her eyes and went on toe to give him a quick kiss. For a moment, all sorts of thoughts crossed through him. He could lock her up (literally, it was a prison after all). He could run away and forget every silent promise he had made himself and his little family of misfits through the years. He could coerce her into letting him live with her but spend most of his time at Hellsing.

He could make her even more miserable.

He let her go and watched her walk to the door.

"So I can still come for conjugal visits right?'

She laughed.

"Yep. You can come by whenever you like. You just can't stay."

He nodded. She gave him a little wave and then opened the door and walked through it, closing it softly behind her.

Leaving him alone.

* * *

An: I knew all along that this was going to start out with humor and end in more or less sadness...but this was a bit more angsty than I originally intended. Proving once more that when Aidan (and Maureen) is involved, things just write themselves. And I think I should just end these with a "to be continued..." or maybe the whole tsuzuku like you see in the bottom of the manga chapters. Ah well, it will be. And on a much more shiney note.

The good news is that the rest of the chapters for this week and next (at the least) should be updated during the day as my greatest love is coming out tomorrow (That would be Final Fantasy) and I will be devoting my after work hours to it. Well perhaps not my greatest but the idea of being able to slaughter NEW monsters and look at VERY pretty things at the same time is ultimately going to win out over anything else.

Not that I won't finish any story at home that I did not do earlier in the day. This comes first.

Hope you enjoyed it. Alucard is set in my mind for tomorrow. Though, sad to say, my original idea for him kinda skedaddled a bit. I have to dig it back up.

Til next time.


	16. ‘find someone to spend eternity with’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my beta, who is awesome. To Debussy who shifted where this chapter was going.

Note: This chapter started out being about one thing (which in very much reality it still is) and then it shifted slightly, focusing on something slightly different. And then the method of madness changed, I listened to Debussy this morning and POOF! suddenly we have a guest star.

Hope you like.

* * *

prompt: overflow

'**find someone to spend eter****nity with'**

**-**

**-**

Alucard was at a loss.

His mind was a torrent of thoughts and vague emotions as he sat looking down at her as she slept in their bed, still as the very death he imposed on her. It was strange to see her so still, even in sleep. Something about her had always radiated a certain energy, a constant motion of even the fine particles of the air around her. A great paradox, she was the essence of life in her immortal death.

He was worried, he could admit. Her skin was as pale as the nightdress she wore, appearing as almost a ghost as she lay on the crimson sheets. She slept more and more as she entered the end of her confinement. As far as the human doctors could say, she was progressing well and the child appeared to be healthy. But, their opinions were simply that. There were no experts when it came to a vampire having a child.

He'd never even heard of it happening before.

The little one, made perhaps a bit wiser from her own child bearing experience, suggested that the sleep might be due to the extra energy needed since Seras wasn't properly alive. The thought had some merit and calmed him slightly when her sleep began to last more and more hours of the night. That very one, she woke only long enough to take in nutrients and give him a weary smile.

He had brushed her hair from her eyes and she had grasped his hand weakly before drifting off once more. Her sleep brought her smiles and so he wondered what she saw in them. Probably visions of their child. Her ability to see into the depths of a future potential began to give him feelings of envy.

He sighed, rising to his feet and leaving her in her slumber. His body could only rest so much before craving activity and he could no longer be completely idle. Laying a soft hand on her rounded belly, he felt the moving of the child, _their_ child, and once more felt a wave of astonishment. How he had never thought to do such a thing before her pregnancy, he could not fathom.

Reluctantly, he pulled away and exited the room quietly, leaving the door slightly ajar so others might hear her should she be in distress.

His path through the Manor home was aimless and without purpose. For all his body's cravings, he did not feel the desire to fight or destroy. Pensive and unsure, his mind was going in every direction at once and he knew he could not find satisfaction in any one action. So he trod his path through the unusually quiet halls.

The little Hellsing, a master he was beginning to be proud of, and his clever wife had been called away to an official function of the Queen. The rest of the enlisted were given the night off, aside of a cursory staff left in place to keep watch for emergencies. Where those personages hid themselves, he did not know and the echoing stillness of the manor added to the weight of his thoughts.

He came to the picture gallery and found himself staring at a line of familiar faces. Elliot had broken precedent and had had his portrait done with his new wife. They shared the role of leader and for that, they might actually create a more successful Institute than any previous head. He still wondered though….

The nature of affection alluded him. Betrayed from an early age by those closest to him, he could not derive a sense of will strong enough to feel love for those who would abandon him to the enemy. Family affection was non-existent and his life had been too tumultuous and dedicated for him to find a comely woman to woo and fall in love with. In the years of his life, he had found romantic affection to be distasteful as he watched many great men of his time do foolish things for the women they devoted them selves to. That hadn't really changed after his death.

There was a point where a woman's charms called to him and he tried to take her as his. But that ended poorly, as all knew, and he wondered often in the years after, how much it was affection and how much it had been a game. In the end, he couldn't really say but that if it were true affection, he didn't have a taste for that sort of emotion. It was fleeting and without purpose.

And then there had been Walter and later Integra. They had both won a loyalty of him bourne from things not ordinary. In the young butler, he had kindled a friendship that had withstood time. That sort of affection he could almost understand, even as it ended in betrayal. And the strange sick bond he had with Integra, he could give some comprehension to as well. When she wasn't inciting him to arousal at her faulted innocence, pure and tainted simultaneously, she was a creature he showered with pride and some small desire to see happiness.

But what, then, of his little draculina….

A sound somewhat foreign to the walls of the great mansion drew his attention and he turned to follow the echoing notes to find their source. He had a great love for music (or was that a sort of affection too?) and was honestly pleased at the mastery of the soul producing the notes that carried through to his ears. He came upon the room housing the grand piano just as the woman played out the final notes, pulling her hands away to brush red hair from her eyes.

"I have always had a fondness for Clair de Lune."

She jumped slightly, hand falling on the keys and letting out a discordant note. Pressing a hand to her heart, she turned accusing eyes to him. The expression drew stiff suddenly as she gazed at him and wariness flooded her features.

"Debussy is very good for wistful thoughts," she agreed slowly, as if measuring each word.

"You are the Irishman's wife, aren't you?"

She shook her head. "Not his wife, no."

He gestured to a chair and raised an eyebrow. She nodded brusquely and he took a seat, gaze fixed on her unsteady presence. He had the distinct impression that he made her uncomfortable. He smirked.

"I seem to remember some passing conversation about that. You do not agree with this organization."

She shook her head again, absently starting another tune. "I very much agree with what Hellsing does. I am just able to admit that I cannot handle being part of it."

He cocked his head to one side, curious. "Is it death you fear? I would not presume that they would send you to the front lines."

"It's not my death I fear."

"Ah, the struggles of the policeman's wife. Echoing endless seconds as you wait for your loved one to come home to you again. Never knowing if that night would be the night that he didn't."

She nodded. "That sums it up pretty well."

"But then, is cutting him from your life the solution?"

She rested her hands in the movement and looked to him once more. "You are Alucard, right?"

"I see the Irishman bears tales."

"As does Winter."

"A truly frightening thought."

"But you, you've been alive for how long?"

"Anno Domine 1431."

"You have been on this earth for seven hundred and twenty-six years. So, I ask you, have you ever lost someone you truly loved?"

He frowned. Odd how some women seemed to know the thoughts hidden just under the surface.

"I have lost those I respected and those I have felt some small measure of affection for, but I cannot say they were anyone I could admit to loving."

"Then you cannot imagine it, can you?" She sighed, fingers taking back up their task once more. Beethoven this time.

"Perhaps not."

"It's something of a sickness, the sort of worry a relationship like that brings," she murmured quietly. "When you accept that at any given moment, one of you may be gone forever, things shift. You begin to wonder what you really want."

He watched her, strangely captivated by the expression on her face and the nimbleness of her fingers as she coaxed the notes from the great instrument.

"You begin to see everyday from an outsiders perspective. Every meal and every moment of quiet, every morning you wake up to each other and every night you go to sleep, tired and spent. You find every moment with them precious and ache fore the next one."

She trailed off for a moment, pressing the notes more forcefully before calming again.

"And then you wonder, as you sit in front of your cheque book and make plans for what you might want to do in the future, if there is any point? Will they be there for that trip to a far off place two years from now? Will they be there to drive the vehicle you feel you'd've felt you earned a year from now? Will they be there to enjoy the place you live even a month from now?"

She paused, voice tight, shifting to the next movement in the piece.

"And then you think, as you see the lines of worry that seem to grow overnight, that you can't take much more of the torture of wondering each and every second that paces when they will be home, if they will be home. You begin to realize that all you ever do is worry, even when they are home in your arms. When they go out that night, will they come home? Will this be the last morning you hold them in your arms? Will this be the last time you laugh with them or share a meal?"

She finished the melody and the last strains of music floated around them before settling to the ground in stillness.

"And then you realize, you don't know if you want to spend every day building a life with someone who seems so ready to throw it away. You know that either way, you will be without them in the end, but losing them on your own terms is so much better than having them torn from you."

She sighed and turned to look to him, tears in her eyes.

"So tell me, Immortal Alucard, can you blame me for the distance I put between myself and this place? Can you tell me none of these thoughts pass through you when you look at Seras?"

He stared at her, struck still and silent by this small creature. He wondered, as he looked into her green eyes, how long it had been since he had actually known someone who wasn't surrounded by death. How long had it been since he had met someone who hadn't strove to hide their emotions, to conquer them, to master them until they could barely be honest anymore? How long had it been since he saw someone who experienced life so honestly?

"You know, madam, I must give you my honest gratitude and thanks. It seems you have helped me solve something of a puzzle that has been on my mind."

She stared at him before bursting into a watery laugh.

"Don't tell me you are as ancient as you are and still sorting out what your emotions are."

He shrugged negligently as he rose to his feet and approached her.

"Age by no means brings knowledge. It just brings age."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He took her hand and bowed over it, dropping a formal kiss on to the back.

"I cannot argue with your assertions or your reasoning, but perhaps while you do not need this place, you most certainly would be welcome to come again."

She shrugged. "I'm just here to watch over Hope. They assumed you would be…occupied."

"Still, you might come again and play."

She grinned. "I might."

He excused himself and made the long trek through abandoned hallways back, smiling slightly when the echoes of melody followed him. When he came to her, she lay still sleeping, not a slightest shift in how she lay. He disrobed quickly and slid into the bed beside her, gathering her into his arms. She murmured softly before settling onto his chest and into complete slumber once more.

What it would be to suddenly lose her, it was a thought he had never really considered before her pregnancy. Then it struck him all the time, the wonder of having her ripped from him after he had taken the care to make her his for eternity. It was a loss he preferred to ignore and threaten into non-existence. He wouldn't allow himself to contemplate it most days, not the actuality, just the idea.

But, at that moment, he did.

Gone was the light and the humor. Gone was the shining optimism of her eyes and the ever stirring sense of hope. Gone was the will that stood up to his and fought back. Gone was the devotion she showered on him. Gone was the passion and fervent desire. Gone was the subtle touch she would give him in silence and the quiet assurance that she was there for him.

It would crush him.

Perhaps the night's wanderings had found him someplace in deed.

He brushed her mind, curious as ever. He had tried many times before to view her dreams or to help brush them aside, but most times he was afforded nothing more than a brief glimpse. This night, however, he felt the dream wash over him, pulling him to slumber. He wondered, idly, as he felt himself drift away to the call of Morpheus, what the difference was. If he was more receptive or if perhaps, in her sleep, she wanted him to see.

He accepted it, either way, and for the first time in years, felt some measure of true peace.

--

_He walked through a darkened wood, trails well worn and familiar. In his arms, he carried a welcome burden, walking towards the comforts of home. The boy, tired looking and arm coated in red, struck a resemblance to him. There was a sense of peace between them, even as the child looked pained and the father vaguely troubled._

_"I carried your mother like this, on the night we met."_

_"Did you, father? Why?"  
"She had just become a vampire. It makes one weak."_

_"Oh, you didn't just want to carry her?"_

_For a moment, he moved to shrug before stopping the action and frowning down to make sure the injured arm hadn't been jostled unnecessarily._

_"I still carry her on occasion. She doesn't put up with it often though."_

_"Mama is pretty in-de-pen-dant."_

_"Indeed, she is. She has a will of iron, too. I'm sure she will not be happy with either of us."_

_"Probably not. It wasn't your fault though."_

_"I'm glad you feel the need to defend me, Michael. However, we both know who will be getting the blame."_

_The boy smiled briefly before the expression turned to a wince." Mama is very hard on you isn't she?"_

_"She says it is revenge."_

_"You used to be hard on her."_

_"In a manner of speaking."_

_The boy nodded slightly and silence lapsed between the two as he stepped into the light of the moon and the Manor came into view. _

_"Mama loves you, you know. Even if she yells at you sometimes."_

_"I am aware of this, though I'm sure she appreciates your championing her."_

_"Do you love mama?"_

_He considered for a moment before answering._

_"Yes."_

_"Do you ever tell her that?"_

_"No."_

_"Why not?"_

_"That is between me and her, Michael."_

_"Is not."_

_He sighed._

_"Is too."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is too."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is that blood all over him? Is that _his_ blood all over him? What the hell were you two doing?"_

_"Is too."_

AN: This went in a very different direction. Partialy cause music, as the name would imply, is my true muse. Subtle variances in tone and thus poof, difference in what comes out. What can I say, classical music makes me more...wordy and pretentious is probably the real end to that but we'll go with poetic.

It's also due in part to discussions on women's logic.

So some added Maureen time in there. Not sure what tomorrow will bring but I might be able to start on it today.

As always, thank you for the awesome reviews.

Til next time.


	17. ‘somehow, I don’t think that is…’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To my awesome beta, Syrenity, who first told me what to write today and then helped me figure out how the hell to sum things up.

Note: This chapter almost didn't happen today. The power went out at work and I hadn't emailed myself the backup yet. Unfortunately, the power came back up, I was forced to STAY at work and poof we have this. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

prompt: "ano, sou..." ("hey, you know...")

'**somehow, I don't think that is the way the saying goes'**

"Hey, you know, I think we should get married."

She turned her head towards him, mouth agape, and stared incredulously. They were standing in the middle of her family shrine's summer festival, looking up at the beautiful display of fireworks. She was wearing one of her finest yukatas and had even convinced him to wear one as well. The entire night had been like a flash black to her years as a high school student. It was beautiful and romantic and girls could only _wish_ to have their boyfriends propose to them on a night such as that.

"That has _got_ to be the _least_ romantic way of asking someone to marry you I have _ever_ heard."

"Seriously, Ethan-kun, that was pretty pathetic."

He looked behind them to find Aiko chuckling behind one hand as her vampire boyfriend, Shin, stood behind smirking. Rolling his eyes, he muttered something about not needing an audience which sent the two girls into a round of giggles.

"You could answer, you know."

"Please, Ethan, right now I'm worried about what I'm supposed to be doing with the rest of my life."

"This _is_ something to do for the rest of your life!"

His incredulous tone sent the girls into a fresh round of giggles and Shin grabbed his arm, pulling him away.

"Let's leave the ladies to their temporary fits of insanity," the vampire suggested with a grin. "There is a shooting game over on the other side of the fair. Let's see who can win a prize first?"

"You're on."

Sakura rolled her eyes and Aiko grinned, the expressions dissolving into giggles once more before they returned their attention to the fireworks overhead.

**~x~**

"Hey, you know, I was serious about that."

She yawned, leaning in to him as they walked back to the shrine in the morning hours. He had kindly agreed to help her with her duties while he stalked her in her homeland. How he had managed to convince Sir Elliot for even more time away, she wasn't certain. The only memo she had gotten in the entire ordeal was an order to send him back if he got too annoying. Preferably alive.

"I know you were, Ethan. Unromantic as you may be, I know you don't say things like that unless you mean them."

"Then why did you laugh?" he grumbled, taking the broom from her hand, effectively stopping her from starting her chores.

"I still stand by the statement that it was the worst way to ask." She paused, tilting her head to once side. "Well maybe not the _worst_, but pretty pathetic all the same."

He groaned. "Made a joke of because I got the words wrong."

She pat him on the shoulder condescendingly before stealing the broom from him and trotting away to begin sweeping the litter-strewn cobblestones.

"You still need to answer, you know."

"I did."

"No, you didn't. You just said you were thinking about the rest of your life. Marriage, in most cases now that the divorce fad is over with, means the rest of your life."

She stopped sweeping for a moment and rolled her eyes at him.

"Ethan, I have every intention of marrying you, when you can get the proposal part right. But right now, I need to worry more about what path my life is going to take. Especially since I know who I'm taking it with."

He blushed slightly before grinning and pulling her in for a kiss.

"I'll just have to work on the proposal part."

**~x~**

"Hey, you know…."

"If you ask me to marry you, I'm going to hurt you."

He rolled his eyes. "No, we've covered that, I think."

She laughed, stepping out from the changing room and shoving him slightly. Aside of helping her out at the Shrine, her father had decided he needed to become a student of the dojo.

_"Especially if he has honorable intentions towards you."_

He still looked a little uncomfortable in his ghi and she had to force herself not to laugh when she saw him.

"So, I know…what?"

"You are trying to decide if you should stay here or go back to Hellsing, right?"

She cocked her head to one side. "Not entirely but that sums up yes. If I were to leave Hellsing, my first obligation would be to come here."

"Well, then," he suggested before joining the ranks of his fellow students. "Why don't you ask your parents for advice?"

She stopped in her tracks, blinking. Somehow, it had never occurred to her to ask them for advice. For the first time, they were stepping back and letting her make a choice as to what she wanted to do. It seemed strange to then turn around and ask them.

"You know, I think I will."

**~x~**

"We didn't realize you were feeling so conflicted about all this, Sakura-chan."

Her parents sat across from her at the table in their kitchen, Ethan beside her. She had presented her dilemma to them and they had grown looks of concern. When she finished talking, they considered her words for a few minutes before her mother shifted uncomfortably and her father spoke up.

"You see, Sakura-chan, you can't actually stay here just yet."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, the Shogunate is still after you at the moment."

She blinked.

"Oh."

"So while we are more than happy to have you visit, if you want to have a more peaceful life and perhaps," he eyed Ethan inquisitively, "start a family, it would be best for you to return to England."

"I'm not sure Hellsing is more peaceful."

"You aren't obliged to go back to them in a fighting aspect, Sakura-chan," her mother pointed out. "You can pursue other things."

"Have a life away from expectations, so to speak," her father confirmed.

She nodded. "I hadn't really considered that. I always thought that if I left Hellsing, you would want me to come here."

"Well, we do hope that you will come back and inherit our legacy," her father replied. "We just think that for the time being, it would be best you be elsewhere."

She looked at Ethan and grinned.

"Well, then, we might talk about that whole marriage thing, then."

Her mother smiled softly. "I would certainly like some grandchildren."

"Okaasama!"

**~x~**

"Hey, you know, I've been thinking."

"You've been starting sentences that way a lot recently," she commented from her seat beside him in the international airlift.

"Shut up."

She stuck her tongue out at him but complied.

"I've been thinking, you have a degree in world mythology."

"Yes, I do."

"Well, if you aren't sure what you want to do, why don't you see if Sir Elliot might be willing for you to go more into the research side of things for a bit. Study up on the vampires and see if you can help find a better source and such."

She shrugged. "We'll see."

He frowned. "I thought you wanted to try some new things."

"You know, its funny," she smiled, looking at him with a new light in her eyes. "Now that I have the freedom to do whatever I want, I've realized, I really _do_ love what I do."

"Huh."

Giggling, she leaned over and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"But, hey, you know…."

"What was this about starting sentences?"

"I think you should marry me."

He shook his head with a grin. "Nope."

Scoffing, she pulled away from him and frowned. "Why not?"

"You are going to have to do a better job proposing than that."

* * *

AN: Very short, I know, but a much of their story has already been said. They just need a bit of summing up. Also, since this entire stoyline takes place six years after the bulk of Life Sentence...yeah. We have to have other people catch up right?

I think there might be another exceprt from Nikolai tomorrow. It feels kinda cheap doing that when today's was kinda short too...but I think he can best convey some plot stuff. Also, it will give me a chance to spend most of tomorrow and Friday working on the end of the Aidan/Maureen story arc.

NOt that they won't be in any other chapters...but...focus shift.

.

Til next time?


	18. ‘testing the theory’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To every fandom that gets referenced in her offhandedly.

Note: Again, a bit rambling as it is just notes and such but...*shrug* it seemed the best way of getting some of those pesky explanations out of the way without taking up precious story time.

* * *

'**testing the theory'**

**-**

**-**

After the incident in Romania (an interesting event I must say), the vampire world began to wonder collectively just what sort of vampire Seras Victoria was. She had become a legend of what not to do when it came to vampire/human relations, yet once awoken again, there she was right back at helping those pesky humans again. Speculation began to mount further when cursory inspection of her bond to the Hellsing Institute proved that she was hardly kept captive. Much like a child held in a room by an unlocked door, if clever enough, she could be free with very little effort.

This began to put a strange new spin on her story (blown far out of proportion by those seeking some sort of demonic fable). Especially when the vampiric Emperor of Japan was offed in a rather showy and unusual manner. Closed lipped as the Japanese were over the incident, hushed up reports indicated that Hellsing might have had something to do with it and the vampire world laid it at her doorstep. Without proof, it must be noted.

Many of the leaders of the vampire world declared that she needed to be exterminated. She killed her own kind without remorse and willingly served the humans. (It should also be noted that they briefly discussed doing the same to the vampire known as Alucard and then came to their self-preservationist senses.)

Others argued that the vampires she was most famous for killing were of the Freak variety and who wanted cheap and easy vampires around in the first place? They also argued that, while a vampire hunter, she never attacked first, always going after those who had made a royal muck of it and drew attention to themselves and the vampire community in a negative way. (The exception to this being the unconfirmed slaying of the Emperor.)

The debate went on, rather pointlessly it must be said. No one would approach her while Hellsing still stood (nor while the vampire Alucard remained in the same general vicinity, country, alive….) On the whole, that is what leaders are good at, blustering about things they can't change, and eventually the debate began to taper off and die.

And then something vastly unusual happened.

She was rumored to be pregnant.

Now, through the course of vampiric history, many have tried to formulate the exact beginning of our kind. No one is quite sure and anyone who says otherwise is completely bullshitting you. Even those of us who have been around for most of human history don't know exactly. There is some understanding though that there are different types of vampires. Some are cursed, some are possessed by demons, some are turned by other vampires and some just flat out turn themselves into one (still working on the how of that one).

We also know that there have been cases of vampiric pregnancy before.

There are women who are turned when they were pregnant. In most cases, this leads to the death of the fetus but some are known to survive. There are also cases when newly formed vampires are impregnated by human men on the first night or so of their turning. In these cases, it would appear the last remnants of the human body carrying through. These pregnancies are most often to go full term and result in dhampires. (There have also been a few times when a vampire gets it into her head to be artificially inseminated and that just ends badly.)

These occurrences are rare but not unheard of. As most vampires are not fond of dhampires, they tend to keep it in their pants long enough to avoid such things. Mostly.

However, Seras Victoria, at the time of her pregnancy, had been a vampire for more than a hundred years. Aside of one case in the early history of man, this had never happened before. So when rumors of her pregnancy got out, the main question everyone began to ask was: how?

And then, when that answer was quite obviously answered by guidance to a sexual education coursebook, they turned to the next question of: who?

It was well known that her sire was the vampire Alucard (one of those fun types that had managed that nifty trick of turning himself to a vampire without help from anyone). It was also presumed (especially after a rather powerful display of possessiveness on his part during that whole Romanian massacre bit) that he was the father of this unnatural child.

All attention turned to him as perhaps the sire of the next vampire race (scary thought though that may be). At first it was considered that on his own, he could impregnate lady vampires but since he was not known to be chaste, that thought was put aside. It was then considered that if he were able to impregnate any vampire of his siring, that could also potentially lead to his ability to conquer the world should he choose (and, lets face it, he wasn't exactly known for being peaceful).

Then someone put forth the notion that the chances of him not making a fledgling and not getting friendly with them in the more than seven hundred years he'd been a vampire was slim to none.

So thus, the focus shifted back to Seras Victoria.

There were those that, of a mind to conquer the human world once and for all (morons), thought they should kidnap her and turn her into something of a baby-making machine. Others cried out against it, (fun mental image though it may be). There was no certainty that it work with any other potential father. Plus you had to get through her psychotic sire to even get to her. In the end, they decided to sit back and observe (as they usually do).

Her pregnancy went to a full month longer than normal human pregnancies. It was reported (by those who do such things) that the child was cut from the womb as Seras had gone into a proto-comatose state as all energies and sustenance was diverted completely to the child. What led to the decision to operate at the particular time they did is still sketchy (though some believe it might have been impatience on the father's part), but the child came forth fully formed and as healthy as a vampire could be deemed.

Her personal recovery was quick, lasting less than a week before she was well enough to be seen outside of the confines of the Institute walls.

The child itself was of much comment, but that is another entry (even if who he chose as an immortal bride shocked more than a few people, her parents included).

__

--Excerpt from the personal diary of Nikolai, Historian

AN: Hopefully there was enough humor in there to make it not completely boring. Now back to Aidan and Maureen...or at least Maureen. Less Aidan.

By the way, in case I haven't said it (enough), I find it so completely awesome that she and he are so very popular. Glad to know that they are intersting and can go toe to toe with Seras and Alucard for people wanting to read more of them.

Actually, I think they kinda won that war. Ah well...

Til next time.


	19. ‘always prepare for eminent insanity’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone who is still looking out for these sorts of chapters, I hope you enjoy it

Note: It's a bit shorter than I originally intended. I unfortunately have to rush for a fun six hour road trip in just a few minute so... I'm still more or less happy with it, but I'm sorry if it feels a bit rushed towards the end.

* * *

prompt: fence

'**always prepare for eminent insanity'**

The apartment echoed with memories and lack. Everything she saw reminded her of some weird thing he had done or some sweet moment between the two of them. Every tick of the clock screamed to her everything that she had forcibly thrown away. The empty space where everything that had been his simmered softly, echoing visions of what had been there only days before.

She found herself sitting on the side of the couch he used to take, sleeping in his spot. She wondered how long the bed would smell like him before she took it all to herself again. She found herself standing in the closet, hiding in the corner where he had hung the fussy formal clothes he hated to wear.

Everywhere he wasn't, she found herself hiding.

**~x~**

He insisted, as he had every year since the first, to pay for her flat and any additional furniture she would need for the baby. He also insisted on being present for any and all doctor's appointments and buying of said furniture and baby clothes. She didn't really argue, nor did she say when she would give him a call the first time. She'd already had the first visit while he was away touring the Continent. It would be a month before she needed to go again.

That first month was the hardest though.

She made every excuse for him not come. She worked extra nights, went out with friends, went to sleep early and everything else she could think of to be busy when he asked to come over. She even invited her parents to come stay, breaking the news to her father separately. He seemed overjoyed, if a little hesitant at her decision not to settle down with the father. They told her mother together and she took the news better than they thought before being whisked away back home.

Nights were the worst.

Unbidden, tears would seep from her eyes, making cold and sticky trails down her face as she abandoned the energy to wipe them away. She had bourne his absence a month already only by telling herself that each night was one less night he would be away. But this…this was a self-diagnosed forever. She did this and she would have to suffer.

So for one month, she did.

She cut herself from him as completely as he would allow for the first month. Twenty-eight days of detox. And then, when the time came, she called him.

"The appointment is tomorrow at noon. Please…please come."

**~x~**

He started coming over about once every two weeks. After the first appointment, he stopped bothering to ask for permission to come and just showed up. Something about his personality made the visits slightly less awkward and she wondered, for the first time, if he was putting a front up for her. The thought was absolutely chilling to her and she tried to ignore it. She almost got up the courage to ask one day as he broke in, but the question died as he gave her a once over with the eyes before relaxing slightly.

Maybe he was just as happy to see her as she was him and that was all that mattered.

**~x~**

"What's wrong? Is there something serious the matter? What can I do?"

She blinked at him, sniffing slightly at his aghast expression only half a step through the door.

"What on _earth_ are you talking about, Aidan?"

He frowned, taking a moment to step through the door and close it behind him.

"You're crying."

She nodded and gestured to the viewer.

"Winter sent over a bunch of Disney movies that she found in her things, for the baby."

"And this made you cry…why?"

She burst into tears again. "But she _died_!"

**~x~**

Once, she woke in the middle of the night to find him sleeping on the floor next to her bed, one hand clutching hers and another caressing her rounded middle.

She cried, but pretended to sleep when he woke later and let himself out.

**~x~**

He was there for the birth, as was Winter. Elliot was somewhere handy, having been kicked out of the actual delivery room by enough people to give him a severe blow to his self-esteem. It was uncomplicated and quick, for a first time delivery. She clutched his hand and listened to the doctors, relaxing with a heavy sigh when the deed was done.

They gave her to him first, though _gave_ might not be as appropriate a word as _took_. His face was hilarious and she might have laughed had she not been so tired. She could almost picture him sizing up every single outfit they had purchased and every bit of furniture to see if they could match up with the small item of joy in his arms. She was fairly sure they all failed.

Tiredly, she held up her arms and he grinned, handing the baby over only enough so that he could worm his way next to both of them. She rolled her eyes before looking down at the perfect creature they had somehow managed to produce. Amazing the way she could love someone she had only just met.

And for a moment, everything was perfect. Winter and (a newly retrieved) Elliot stood by, grinning madly like proud aunt and uncle. Aidan kissed her temple, murmuring low nonsense that she couldn't bring herself to pay attention to. And that perfect child was looking at her, eyes wide.

They were a family.

**~x~**

His visits became much more frequent after that. At least twice a week, she found him unlocking the door and looking around furtively until he caught sight of one or the other of them. His grin would break out and for a moment she could allow herself to think that he was coming home and all was well.

And then she would remind herself that he had another home and another life, far away from the peaceful serenity of her days.

They didn't speak much, for all his additional time. Instead, he would immediately send her off to bed, offering the solace of sleep to the beleaguered mother. She would yawn and nod, kissing her daughter on the soft tufts of hair and wave her hand at him before tumbling into the wide bed.

More often than not, she would wake to the smell of a homecooked dinner and he would give her a quick kiss on the temple before leaving in a rush.

She never asked where he was going.

**~x~**

It was six months after Shiara's birth that she let him spend the night again. He had caressed her as if it were the first time, as if she were a goddess to be worshiped. It had been luxurious and beautiful and she remembered him chuckling and kissing the tears that had escaped her eyes. He had whispered so earnestly that he loved her and wrapped her in his arms, protecting her from the world as the slept.

Once more, she pretended to sleep as he slowly eased his way out of bed to tend to their daughter. She could tell herself, in those moments, that he would be right back. And then, she realized she knew he would and she forced herself to get up and get dressed. She stepped out of the room and the look of calm and peace that he had on his face shattered.

She turned her face, going into the kitchen to hide her tears.

**~x~**

"Why do you do this to yourself, Maureen?"

"Because it's easier."

Winter sighed, stirring her drink with a straw as they sat in the outdoor café, relishing the warm glow of the spring sun.

"How can it be easier? How can it be easier to break your heart over and over again every time he leaves?"

Maureen sighed as well, dropping her chin to rest on the table before laying her cheek down to gaze out to the busy streets of London.

"Because then I can tell myself that its my choice. I'm the one making him leave. I can tell myself at any moment that I can just tell him to stay and he will."

The younger girl frowned. "How does that even begin to make sense?"

Her lips quirked and she looked to her companion again, picking her head up off the table once more.

"It probably doesn't. But if I tell myself I have control, it makes it better. If…if I had to watch himself go out night after night and see him come back covered in blood…I'd just lose it." She sighed, sitting back father in her chair.

"I can tell myself that he's doing other things when he's not around. I can pretend that he's actually just sitting around on his stupid computer and solving all the mysteries of the universe. I can say that it's all just a cover up for a secret desk night job, a lie to make his life more interesting."

She smiled sadly at Winter.

"When he's gone, I can pretend he's safe."

**~x~**

They threw a party for her first birthday. Everyone came to enjoy in the festivities, all crammed into one two-bedroom flat.

Everyone.

He had never met her parents before. All smiles and easiness for the sake of the party, he played nice with her mother and seemed to get along well with her father. Everyone else knew each other and the party went well for the first hour and more. It was the perfect holiday for all of them, a chance for laughter and smiles. Playing hostess suited her well and she was able to enjoy herself completely for the first time in longer than she could remember.

And then her mother cornered her in the kitchen, alone.

And Aidan walked in.

It didn't take long for him to start yelling. Silence echoed in the rest of the flat until she forcibly grabbed him by the arm and drug him into her room. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught her father take her mother away and the stunned expressions of the others.

"Why did you stop me, Maureen? She had that coming!"

"Because, Aidan, it's not your job."

"Of course it is! You are my girl!"

"No, Aidan. No, I'm not. And I'm not your responsibility."

He had stared at her for a few seconds before turning and leaving the room they had once shared. Two steps out the door and his hand was on one of the vases her mother had given her long ago and seconds later it was shattering against the wall. Then, with a muffled curse, he was gone.

The party was over.

**~x~**

His visits became less frequent after that. They dropped down to once a week, frequently with an anxious to please Winter in tow. He spent the time with their daughter, almost completely ignoring her. Winter would try and distract her, bullying the older girl into impromptu cooking lessons and fashion conversation.

He stopped trying to kiss her when he left.

**~x~**

It was months before he began to speak to her again. Even then, it was small talk. Was she working anywhere interesting? Was she composing anything new? Did she ever get around to writing that book she had always been talking about?

It was painful and strained but she rejoiced in it. He wasn't hiding himself from her, each look in his eyes still declaring his pain and frustration. He wasn't hiding, wasn't lying or acting. He wasn't pretending that things were all right and better.

But he was trying.

She began to wonder if they would end up as friends.

Or if she had ruined even that.

**~x~**

"Mam?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Where Da?"

"He's at work, sweetheart."

"Back?"

"I…I don't know baby."

**~x~**

Then, one night, he came over.

Drunk.

He was barely in the door before he had kissed her, devouring her like a starved man. At first, she was too surprised to argue and then she was too caught up. With barely enough awareness to make sure that the door was closed in locked, she allowed him to carry her into her room. He was wild and passionate and she loved every second of it. When they finished, the collapsed into sleep, spent and satisfied.

She woke the next morning to him staring down at her, head propped up on one arm and expression clouded.

"I'm done running."

She frowned.

"I'm not going to just give up and go away, Maureen. Even if I have to use every dirty trick in the book, I'll make you come to me."

She looked away, afraid to let him see she was happy.

Afraid to let him see her fear.

**~x~**

"They have someone new at Hellsing now, flower of my heart."

"Oh?"

"A vampire."

"That is…unusual."

"She certainly is. Interesting girl. I think there is a lot going on inside her head that we won't see. She's scary as hell too. Better in a fight than Winter and Uncle Jaime put together I imagine."

"Sounds dangerous."

"She's bound to the Hellsing line. Can't hurt anyone unless he says it's okay, apparently."

"I guess that is helpful then."

"Maureen?"

"Yes, Aidan?"

"No one has died since she's come. No one."

"I…Aidan…."

"If it continues like this, will you consider?"

"I…yes, Aidan. I'll consider. But, I promise nothing."

"Good enough for me."

**~x~**

Months went by and there wasn't a single casualty.

She began to waver.

**~x~**

One day, close to Shiara's third birthday, she got a phone call.

He was back from Romania.

He was hurt.

She stopped wavering.

* * *

An: Remember that part where I said this was the last chapter of their arc? Yeah, I lied. I was so tired I combined two chapters together in my head. Next chapter will be the last solely dedicated to them.

And then on to the kiddies, the Horror Trio.

I'll probably post the next Aidan/Maureen on Monday...cause I'm just ready to be done with it. And I'm out of other storylines to follow...so...yeah?

Hope you enjoyed it.

Til next time.


	20. ‘with only the promise'

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Note: I lied...again. I think. Well...its not so much a lie as a delaying. This was supposed to be about Aidan and Maureen. Then Seras elbowed me in the muse and took over.

Ah well. I hope it's enjoyable.

* * *

prompt: ten

'**with only the promise that it would be better'**

**or**

**'firsts'**

**~x~**

one

**~x~**

The first time she met Seras Victoria, she had been coming to the Tower to pick Winter up for some women only tea do that her mother had set up for her in absentia. Completely unthrilled at the notion, she was set to drag the younger girl along and had walked into the Tower reception area with chin held high, ready to argue with the stubborn girl.

What she found was a petite blonde with wide blue eyes and a set of knockers that would make any girl slightly envious. Dressed in a fluttery sort of white sundress and hair done up in a set of braids, she looked very young, younger than Winter maybe. The expression of curiosity on her face as she peered at Maureen, stopping in her path through the room, made her look even younger.

The two stood silently questioning the other for a moment, Maureen's thoughts edging toward incredulity at the presence of a young innocent girl in a place like that. Just before she could ask though, Winter appeared.

"Seras! Who on earth did that to your hair?" The brunette chuckled softly, pulling on a jacket as she approached. "You look about five years old like that. Pretty, but five."

"Sakura did it. She also insisted I wear the dress. I was going to change before Master found me."

Winter chuckled. "I think you should let him see it. Bastard should get a kick out if it." She looked over and gestured for Maureen to come over. "In the meantime, I want you to meet a friend of mine."

The older girl, for her part, was struck silent at the conversation. Whoever the woman was, she obviously belonged there. But how?"

"Seras Victoria, I would like you to meet Maureen Langley. Maureen, this is Seras. She is one of our resident vampires."

"Oh! Maureen!" The blonde squeaked and grasped her hand a bit harder before clutching it in a sympathetic manner.

"Yes…."

"You are Aidan's…I'm so sorry! He got hurt coming to save me! I hope you can forgive me. I told them not to come, but _he_ never listens."

"None of us do, I'm afraid," Winter grinned. "Still, you might release her hand before you pluck it straight off."

"Oh! Sorry," the vampire exclaimed, blushing lightly.

Maureen could only stare. _This_ was the vampire that had saved the lives of so many Hellsing personnel? _This_ was the master vampire who was scarier than Winter and her father put together?

"It…It's a pleasure to meet you, Seras."

**~x~**

two

**~x~**

Winter dragged them out to a club one night. She tarted them up personally and shoved them out the door under the watchful gaze of a highly amused Aidan as he stayed behind to watch their daughter.

"Are we sure Bloodbath Baron is alright with his girl wandering around in a skirt barely long enough to cover her underwear? Cause, I'd really hate to have to clean up after a massacre."

While Maureen frowned, vaguely concerned (and not in small part by the casual way he said it) at his words. Seras, meanwhile, grinned widely.

"Cause it's different from my uniform how?"

"She has a point," Winter chimed in, adjusting one of the straps on her short dress.

"This is only one piece of fabric versus several?" Aidan offered with a grin. "Besides, why are you dragging the poor ancient woman out on a wild night of debauchery?"

"Protection," the younger girl grinned, shooing the three of them out the door before Maureen could fuss any farther with her sleeping daughter.

The idea of Winter needing protection was a foreign one and, despite all knowledge to the opposite, Maureen really couldn't wrap her head around the idea of the small blonde being particularly dangerous. She smiled entirely too much.

She, therefore, was rather startled to watch as the 'innocent' took out three would-be muggers (or rapists) in the blink of an eye while Winter forked over some money for cover charge. When she caught Maureen looking, she flushed slightly, the eerily vacant expression from moments before gone.

"Every girl needs a stag night, right?"

Mute, the redhead nodded and followed her companion to the club, impression of the petite woman beside her drastically altered.

**~x~**

three

**~x~**

"I told you before and I told Integra the same thing," Seras commented as she helped Winter pin on her veil as Maureen knelt to buckle her shoes under the mass of white. "This is a celebration of _life_."

"I still think you just talked me out of having you as a bridesmaid so you didn't have to wear the dress," Winter muttered.

"It's not half bad actually," Maureen argued, fingering the emerald green silk.

"It's fairly easy to find a good dress when you only have one person to shop for," the bride laughed, grinning down at her friend.

"Integra made me wear a suit," Seras offered. "Said one of us should since they'd forced her into wearing a dress." She trailed off, working the pins of the headpiece delicately and muttering something about an act of god and by order of the crown….

"Wait a second! You sneak! You told me you refused to take part in her wedding."

"She held a gun up to my head," the blonde grinned. "Literally."

"Should have thought of that," Maureen scolded. "I'm not looking forward to being the only one standing up there with you with half the Royal Court in attendance."

Seras shook her head. "I only agreed because there was no one else. I mean it," she smiled, pulling away and turning Winter by the shoulders to have her look in the mirror. "This is about you and about life and about creating something new and beautiful. Not for us scary undead."

Her smile turned sad and Maureen wondered for the first time what lay under the sunny smiles of the immortal woman.

**~x~**

four

**~x~**

They came to visit once, after one of Winter's doctor's visits. Well into her pregnancy, Elliot had insisted one of their vampires escort her to the doctor in his absence. Seras had been unanimously nominated (especially as it required going out into the sun). Happy to be out of the Institute and away from the too careful attentions of her husband, Winter had suggested they go visit Maureen before heading back.

She had sat on the couch for about five minutes before falling asleep, leaving a highly amused Maureen to watch over the budding relationship between her daughter and the resident vampire.

"Have you known many children?"

The blonde shook her head. "Not really. I was raised in an orphanage and so, really, there were kids always around until I finally left at 18, but I didn't really associate with them much."

"You are really good with her though. I'd just assume you were knowledgeable."

Seras grinned. "Well, this is the second Hellsing pregnancy I was around for," she offered, nodding her head slightly towards the snoozing woman. "I spent a few years around Henry before we slept. I was a good babysitter for the mountains of paperwork his parents had to go through."

She nodded, taking a sip of water before setting the glass down on the counter and taking a seat on the carpet with the three-year-old and centuries old woman.

"I can't imagine being there to witness the birth of generation after generation."

The blonde shrugged, making a face at the giggling child. "It can be tough. But…I choose to look at it as living vicariously."

And, for the first time, Maureen considered what it would be like to be eternally nineteen and never able to have a child, watching others raise their own.

**~x~**

five

**~x~**

Winter had asked her to come sit with the pregnant vampire while the rest of them went out to kill vampires in a nearby city. The request had actually come from the impatient father (of whom she'd only seen glances of) and she felt enough pity to go comply. She had to admit that she liked Seras. There was something about her that kept the observer guessing and she had begun to realize over the past year and a half just what fascinated Aidan so much.

She found the vampire sitting out in the gazebo Winter had insisted they erect on the Hellsing property. The sunlight was fading to golden tones and casting glows of crimson and copper on the pale figure within the white wood structure. Like Madonna with Child, she seemed to radiate her own light, an aura of contentment. Until the fading light caught on a tear and all thoughts of joy were dashed.

"What's the matter?"

"They are all gone."

She came and sat down beside the weeping woman, putting a gentle hand on her back.

"Who?"

"Everyone. Everyone that I would have wished to be here and meet this child when I first dreamed of its existence long, long ago."

"You mean…your family?"

She nodded and then shrugged slightly. "My parents, yes, but more than that. It seems all that happens to those I love is painful death. My mother and father…they were…. And then Pip…right before me. And Walter…Walter he left us and they fought and…but I loved him so much. And Integra…she hurt so much before…."

Her words lost coherence as the sobs came quicker and Maureen, left no other recourse, wrapped her arms around the woman and pulled her to her chest.

"Shh…not everyone leaves."

"…Yes they do. For me they do. Only Master….All of you will one day leave me. It is almost enough to make me wonder why I bother. Why I even get close…."

Maureen wondered, as she held the woman to her for the next hour, why she had never before considered the constant pain of immortality.

**~x~**

six

**~x~**

"I didn't know you played the harp."

The blonde vampire grinned impishly. "I don't. I've decided to learn though."

Maureen laughed softly, making her way to peer down into the portable bassinet. The tiny impossible child within lay sleeping, happily lulled to sleep by the melodic strumming of his mother.

"What made you decide to learn?"

"I think the main reason was because Alucard laughed when I told him I wanted to. Something about demons with harps."

She chuckled, taking a familiar seat at the piano bench. "Is he away then?"

Seras nodded. "The whole lot of them went to a fairly long and boring meeting with the other Knights. I was told to stay put." She yawned. "Honestly, I don't mind. I'm still tired and it gives me a chance to practice."

"The harp is a pretty challenging to a newcomer musician."

"Oh, I can play the piano fairly well," Seras corrected. "Integra insisted I learn since we had this huge piano taking up space and no one to play it." She winked mischievously. "Master doesn't know, though, since he plays a bit better. So we'll just keep that a secret for now, shall we?"

"My pleasure," she laughed.

"But, not that I mind the company, what are you doing here?"

"Shiara is away with her grandparents for the day and it was too quiet."

The vampire nodded understandingly as she began to once more pluck the strings of the rather large instrument. "Quiet invites thoughts."

"Yeah," Maureen sighed, "you could say that."

"I used to hate being alone when I was young. I tried to be around people as often as I could so I would have a distraction." She frowned, adjusting her fingering a little. "But I never really got close to people. Couldn't be bothered."

"I confess I'm the same way. Always had too much to think about. Winter is the first girl I ever really became friends with. And she is five years younger than me."

Seras shrugged. "Age has nothing to do with it. Integra was a few years older than me when I met her and we became lifelong friends."

"I can't imagine that…not really."

"You don't have to," the vampire replied with a wink. "You get to appreciate the finality of things. And I think you are smart enough that you'll be able to do it, in time."

"What do you mean?"

The blonde straightened, allowing the harp to settle gently to the floor, and a look came into her eyes of such age that Maureen almost gasped.

"Some things are great because you know they will end. It always took me too long to understand that."

At that moment, the little one began to fuss and Seras turned her attention to him leaving Maureen to consider her in a new light. Somehow…perhaps because of her youthful appearance and innocent expressions…she was realizing for the first time that Seras was older than her.

So much older.

**~x~**

seven

**~x~**

"You know," she whispered into her ear as they stood on the Hellsing lawns celebrating Hope's first birthday. She followed Maureen's gaze to where Aidan stood playing with Shiara and Sakura, laughing at something the Asian beauty said. "If you keep pushing him away, he just might leave."

She jerked her green eyes to the amused blue gaze, startled and a bit shocked at the suggestion. The blonde merely shrugged, adjusting the sleeping infant against her before walking away.

"Just saying."

And that was the first time that she realized Seras was cleverer than she let on.

**~x~**

eight

**~x~**

She watched, with a half a smile, as Seras spoke quietly to Shiara about the best way to hold a baby. If there were whispered tidbits of advice about not having cuts around the infant, that was skewed to the side. Beside her on the floor, Hope began to work herself to her feet once more, threatening to topple over before an expression of determination settled on her face and she rocked her way into a few steps before crashing to the ground again.

Before either she or Winter could stand up and help her, Seras nimbly helped her to her feet again, tickling her stomach lightly. When she won a smile out of the girl, she turned her attention once more to the redhead carefully holdig her own child and chattering idly. Her grin matched the happiness of the quiet scene of domecicity until you caught sight of her eyes.

As if viewing the world from two steps away, she watched everything with the aura of a person trying to fix everything in her mind, perfect in memory. The expression lasted only for a few seconds before the vampire leaned over and whispered something in the four-year-old's ear, reclaiming her child as she spoke. Her words, whatever they might be, sent the redheaded terror straight for the master vampire sitting on the otherside of the room, half asleep in a chair tilted to a rather precarious angle.

All it took was a quick shove and the vampire found himself waking to a room ecohing with rautious laughter and a small child hiding behind the blonde vampire. He picked himself up off the floor, irritated but amused, and walked over to stand imposingly over the guilty child. He leaned over menacingly before muttering something low triggering the child to burst into giggles and scurry from the room.

"Hey!" Seras exclaimed, thrusting her child into his father's arm with a small glare and racing after the giggling child.

Laughing quietly, Maureen realized that despite everything, Seras made each second count, finding the individual moments of pleasure and joy in the lives of those who would one day leave her.

**~x~**

nine

**~x~**

One day, she found Seras in the picture gallery staring up at a painting. Well over a century old, it beautifully captured the two women positioned side by side. Affection shone from the portrait and the eyes of the women. If it weren't for knowledge to the other, one might even say they looked like sisters.

As she watched, the vampire touched the hand of the long gone woman and sighed. Some inconsequential movement struck her attention and she looked over to Maureen and gave a small smile.

It was then that she understood Seras lived as much in her memories as she did her present.

**~x~**

ten

**~x~**

"Well, you can look at it this way," Seras stated simply, watching with a smirk as Shiara poked Michael's cheek for the fifth time in a minute. "You can spend your days avoiding everyone, too scared to lose something to enjoy having it and wind up like Alucard."

"Or," she continued after a moment, "you can take the route I chose and love everyone as much as possible and be happy to bursting until the inevitable sadness."

Maureen frowned at the simplicity of her choices, laid out in such…strange example.

"I don't know about you," the blonde commented with a grin, "but I think I prefer my way. More fun. Also, it doesn't lead to being a crazy psychopath."

Wiping tears of mirth and joy from her eyes at the thought, Maureen realized one more thing about Seras.

She was right.

* * *

AN: Today's story is brought to you by the expanse of I-10 between New Braunfel's and Houston (twice) which is incredibly boring and requires some mental exercise to keep awake on. (Maintaining speed limit is an entirely different story) Well..when I wasn't being distracted by the stars. We don't have those where I come from. Thus driving a convertible at night in the middle of nowhere is not a good idea. Distracting balls of light.

All the same, I think Seras managed to do with minimum angst what Aidan and Maureen would have had trouble doing on their own. That and having Shiara tip Alucard over was too hard to resist.

Tomorrow will probably be shorter than most of the chapters related to this couple but it should bring a conclusion to their story arc (so I keep saying right?)

Hope you enjoyed this and will enjoy tomorrow. Personally, I'm just thrilled that some of you have stuck around this long. Brownie points all around.

Til next time.


	21. ‘these sickos just wanted to tie me up’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone who liked Maureen and Aidan to follow them this far

Note: Today's story is brought you by insomnia, producing more story ideas than sugar!

It's also brought to you by music. Because despite my following the teachings of Cathol, I think it is my true religion...and the one thing that will wake me up better than anything else. *yawn*

* * *

prompt: jolt!

'**these sickos just wanted to tie me up'**

**-**

**-**

"You've been hanging around here pretty often recently."

"Mm-hmm," she agreed, eyes fixed on her child as she played tag with the blonde vampire on the lawn. In her own arms, said vampires son sat cooing at the world in general, content for the moment to watch the proceedings with eyes too keen for an infant.

"You don't seem to be here to see me, I am hurt to notice."

A wry grin curled her lips and she pat him lightly on the shoulder.

"Nope."

"Gee, thanks."

She laughed, bumping him slightly with her shoulder before walking across the lawn to deposit the child in his father's arms. Then, with a wink to Aidan, she joined in the game.

--

"Visiting the patient?"

"Pregnancy isn't a condition that usually uses the term 'patient,' Aidan," she retorted with a smirk.

"Mental patient."

"I could hit you for that but after seeing the antics of Winter and Seras, I can't really blame you."

Grinning, she hopped off the last stair and strolled over to him with a laugh.

"So why are you here then?"

"I was told I had to pay for my crimes," she laughed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Crimes?"

"A long line of revenge. Butterfly flapping its wings and all. Though, personally, I say Winter started it. I just got just revenge. Not my fault she decided to pass it on."

"What on _earth_ are you talking about, love of my life?" he finally queried, expression both curious and cautious as he tried to decide if he _even_ wanted to know.

She shrugged. "Bambi."

--

"Here again, I see."

"What can I say?" she grinned, looking up from her seat at the piano. "I like Seras."

"Why thank you, Maureen. I shall take that as a compliment."

She turned to grin at the blonde, fingers working nimbly on the harp. For a moment, he considered the vampire, envious still at her ability to learn things so quickly.

"So, do I have to take up an instrument to get a little attention?"

His redheaded imp shrugged, coy smile brightening her face.

"Maybe."

--

"Alright, give."

She frowned. "Huh?"

"You've never come here this often. I've tried for _years_ for you to come and see the people I work with and see that this place is not the Den of Death that you seem to think it is. So give me the reason that you've suddenly changed your mind."

"Well, part of it is that this is a house, albeit large, and not a _prison_."

"Picky details."

--

"Why do you look like Seras just pinched your ass? Please tell me she did because that would add a whole new level to her magnificence."

She gave him a strange look.

"You are such a guy sometimes."

He shrugged daring to swoop in and steal a kiss. She didn't protest. Whether from shock or the odd emotions he saw lurking behind her eyes, he couldn't say. Not one to pass up golden opportunities, he gave her another. After a moment, she pulled back, slightly breathless, and stepped away.

"It's a birthday party, Aidan. There are children around."

"She's one, blushing rose, I don't think she'll notice."

She gave him a quick, vaguely embarrassed glare before walking away. He stared after her for a minute, grin on his face before a sudden thought crossed his mind.

"Wait," he called after her, "does that mean that's a go when the children aren't around?"

--

Notes aching with sorrow and meaning trickled through the cold stone halls of the manor, drawing him in slowly as a piper once did in Hamlin. Music was more often heard in the stone walls of the Institute as the vampire threat waned. More than once he had walked in to find Alucard and Seras playing a duet of sorts, sometimes their eyes and focus in places anywhere but on the ivory keys their fingers graced.

Mouths produced more accompaniment to music than song.

In the past months, it was no guarantee of source as he often found more and more of the denizens of their home taking their place at the keyboard. Some had more success that others and almost all were put to true shame when she came and played.

It was, after all, her living.

He could tell her music apart from everyone's, despite having heard it rarely as they grew older. Every echoing note seemed to whisper secrets and messages meant only for him. Her music was more honest than her words and in its confines, he knew she loved him.

And so the notes drew him in, wondering what new whispers she had for him that night. His approach was silent, borne from years of stealth and death. Whatever her wordless speech may be willing to tell him, he didn't want to break the spell she cast. It was with a step to the side and back pressed to the door that he entered the room and stilled, sight strange and awing.

There she played, hair unbound and curling down past her waist (when did it get so long?). The windows gave passage to the light of the moon and the glow caressed her pale skin and highlighted the luxury of her fiery tresses. The world lacked all color but the tinge of red flowing down her back as everything set itself in shades of grey.

His breath caught in his throat and his thoughts idled towards imaginings of perfect moments and different worlds. Shifting his weight, he paused at the moment of movement as his eye caught onto a sight foreign to his imaginings. He could only stare at the figure for a moment, mind refusing to believe his senses until understanding settled and his lips curved upwards in appreciation.

Nearing sleep, a figure pale with death lounged in a padded chair. His dark hair fell away from his pale flesh and failed to shield the closed lids of his eyes, softening the normally stark features. Long and lean, his figure showed to prominence once removed from the long scarlet cloak that normally graced his frame.

The beauty and the beast in quiet harmony.

It was a sight that startled and thrilled him. No other such presence in that great edifice that stood around them could have more completely proven her acceptance and place in the Institute. She belonged there with them, as sure as he took breath and the man in there didn't need to.

She had tamed the monster.

--

"You really have just started coming here all on your own for no particular reason."

She nodded, eyes trained on the miniature dogpile Seras and the children (a toddling Hope included) had made on top of the centuries old demon vampire.

"Shiara likes to come here. I can't really say no to her. She's too clever to make excuses to."

He brushed his lips against her neck, grinning to himself when she didn't pull away.

"That's just your excuse."

"I like seeing Seras and Winter, too."

"Soon you'll be telling me that you find this place relaxing."

"Yep."

"And then you'll be saying that you'll marry me."

"Yes."

He stilled, every muscle in his body coming to an abrupt stop. A second ticked by before he could bring himself to move and circle around to look her in the eye.

"Yes?"

She grinned. "Yes."

"You can't take that back, you know."

"I know."

Pure joy bounced from the walls as laughter erupted from him. Her mirth joined with his as he picked her up and twirled her around and around in the air, stopping only when the desire to claim her mouth with his overpowered the strength of his arms. His attention and world narrowed to the feel of her pressed against him.

Except for the small chuckles sounding from the other occupants of the room. And the small aside from the blonde woman.

"I guess she took my advice then."

Before he lost himself completely in his bride-to-be, he made a mental note to thank Seras.

A lot.

--

"Alright so I push here?"

"And then pull back there."

"And then just click, done?"

"Yep. Should I ask why you need this?"

"Persuasion."

--

_click_

Seras looked over to find a gun about an inch away from her head.

"You _will_ be in my wedding."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

AN: Yay! I managed to bring out the humor again! Despite all the above, I _really_ don't like angst really. I tend to avoid it in most of what I read. I read to enjoy myself and escape not deal with upset. Sorrow yes, angst...sigh. So finally, angst away!

Not that I don't imagine there won't be some more angst dealing with their children. I guess that just goes hand in hand with this fandom. Ah well. Part of growing as a writer I'm sure. Whatever.

This chapter is a companion to the last chapter as they happen simultaneously. I hope that was more or less shown but...*shrug*

Next chapter will be about Hope (I'm 90% sure) as I had an interesting story idea...and then I fell asleep...and it's gone. Ish. Ah well. I'm sure it will ressurect. I think of the three offspring she will have the most complex character...

Hope you enjoyed.

Also? Final Fantasy XIII rocks...even if it is weird that there are two characters with names that allign with two of my different nicknames. So odd.

Til next time!


	22. ‘to find the Holy Grail’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To all my fellow Irishmen and all of those who are Irish today only. Live. Laugh. Love.

Note: I had a good idea for Hope. It was halfway formulated in my head. And then...I just couldn't do it. Who can be serious today of all days? And so, with a time constraint of less than two hours due to impending revelry...I give you this.

* * *

prompt: candy

'**to find the Holy Grail'**

"I'm not sure we should be doing this…."

Two girls looked back at the dark haired boy with a troubled look on his face. The redhead looked to the blonde. The blonde pursed her lips in thought and the redhead shrugged.

"Well, it's a good thing then," the blonde responded after a moment, "that you have absolutely no say in the matter."

"You know, Hope," the boy argued with a sigh, "just because I my parents have to listen to you doesn't mean _I_ do."

"No, but if I told Uncle Alucard that you left us alone in our venture, he would undoubtedly be upset," the redhead pointed out with a superior grin.

His shoulders sagged, resigned. Sometimes, he wondered why he bothered.

**~x~**

"It's locked up there," the blonde stated, pointing to a makeshift map. "And they keep the key for it there," she continued pointing to a very different place on the map.

"That is their bedroom though," the boy pointed out with an exasperated sort of hope.

"Which means two of us will have to go and retrieve the key," the redhead confirmed. "One to retrieve, the other to stand watch."

"I guess I'll be going in to get it then won't I," he muttered.

"No," the blonde argued, "it was my idea so it is _my_ responsibility to go into the hot seat."

The redhead grinned fondly, pride shining from the expression before turning her gaze back to the hand drawn map. "Then, while you two go do that, I will go scout the area and look for possible trouble."

The three nodded, standing from their crouched position to seek out their separate missions. Before the two could depart though, the redhead shoved something in the boy's hands.

"For cover."

**~x~**

"Michael, sweetheart, why are you reading a book in the hallway?"

The boy looked up at his mother and father as they passed down the hallway. His mother was fighting to put an earring in as she asked him and he reached a hand up to help her, earning a grateful smile.

"You look very nice, Mum. Are you and father going out with my aunts and uncles?"

"Yes, sweetheart, we are. Aidan, Winter and Maureen insisted on going out and reveling in the day as much as possible." She sighed. "This could be…interesting."

He opened his mouth to say something else but his mother turned her head away suddenly in the manner she often did when someone was communicating with her from a distance. A second passed and she turned and pressed a kiss on his head.

"Take care of the girls while we're gone, okay?"

"Mum, they are older than me."

"You are still the stronger man," she grinned before walking down the hallway with a small wave.

"You should take a few steps that way."

He looked up at his father, curious.

"Don't stand right in front of the door you are watching. Stand a ways to the side. Less obvious."

With a grin, he nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Good boy."

**~x~**

"It's the third from the right, middle cabinet. Lock is behind the engraved signet."

The redhead jumped, turning around to find her father lounging in the doorway, grin on his face. She straightened, looking at her father with a thoughtful frown for a moment.

"You aren't going to tell me to stop?"

He shrugged. "I could pretend I was an excellent child and didn't do anything wrong, but that would be a lie to shame even the Blarney stone."

She grinned. "You and Aunt Winter got into a bit of trouble didn't you?"

"And your Uncle Elliot. We dragged him right along with us."

"And you so much older than they were."

He laughed. "Like father like daughter."

"Yep," she nodded with a laugh.

"Just don't let your mother catch you. She'll see you in the lie in about two seconds flat. You know how she is."

"Aren't you worried she'll know you were keeping something from her?'

"That woman is _always_ thinking I'm up to something. Maybe it'll distract her long enough to get her out the door and out of your hair."

Laughing, she crossed the room and gave her father a big hug.

"Thanks, Da."

"What can I say? I believe in doing things right."

"And this is doing things right?"

"Today it is."

**~x~**

They had miscalculated. While they had had a clear idea of where all the adults were when the plan was starting its execution, they had forgot to double-check the room before she snuck in. She was barely across the room when she heard a rustling from the adjoining dressing room. Cursing under her breath she knew she had two choices…well, more like one per parent.

She was contemplating the idea of aborting the mission entirely when her mother came out of the antechamber, fastening a belt around her waist and heading to her jewelry box. She had nearly reached it before seeming to notice the presence of her daughter in the room. Their eyes met through the mirror and a smirk appeared on her mother's face.

"Let me guess, you are after the key?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, aren't you glad I'm not your father."

"Yes, Mam, I most certainly am."

"It's on the table. Make sure you put it back later so he doesn't suspect."

"Thank you!"

**~x~**

"They are leaving now."

"Should we go now?" the blonde queried.

"Give it about ten minutes," the redhead replied. "Just in case someone forgets something."

"And then we go for it."

"I still say this isn't the best idea," the boy sighed, resigned.

"You just say that because it isn't fun for you."

"Precisely."

**~x~**

"This may not have been a good idea," the blonde muttered, slightly green of face.

"You are Irish – well, half – pull it together woman."

"Told you so."

**~x~**

"So how many glasses of fine Irish Whiskey do you think our children have consumed by now?"

"As long as they don't get sick all over the carpets or drink to the point of poisoning, I'm not sure I care."

"They certainly worked hard for it."

**~x~**

When they returned to the mansion, they found the two girls quietly sleeping on two of the couches. They had been supplied pillows and covered with a blanket. Beside them the boy sat reading a book in one of the more comfortable chairs. He didn't even look up when the group of parents entered the room, somewhat worse for the wear and laughing softly. Instead, he flipped another page and continued to read.

"Will they be sick tomorrow morning?"

"Most likely, sir."

"But you took care of them."

"Yes, mother."

The master vampire laid a hand on his son's head and grinned down at him.

"Good boy."

* * *

AN: And the prompt said candy... Well, they are similar...good to a point and then once you cross the line you get sick and learn the meaning of the word regret. (So party safe to any of my other party people out there tonight!)

All in all, pure fluff. Mindless and fun. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Tomorrow it'll be back to the seriousness and such again, but today it was about the fun.

Thanks to everyone who gave praise to the Aidan/Maureen story arc. I had a lot of fun with it...so much I didn't want to let them go. All good things..., though. Still, we have twelve days left of this madness. Let's see what other fun we can come up with, shall we?

I am still taking story suggestions, by the way, so if there is something you still wanted to see, I am more than happy to oblige. I'm used to writing per request and enjoy it. ...And I think that's it.

Off to join in the celebration of (one of) my home country's day and the day of my best friend's birth. And then two days from now I get to celebrate the other country. Rock!

Til next time (and hopefully a little less hyper)!


	23. ‘yes, ma’am’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To insomnia...again...

Note: The prompt relates to the story that follows in ways that only I could probably understand. And I forewarn that it doesn't have so much plot as it has that integral building block for further story. Character study? Ah whatever. It's not my best. My head is trying to do me in (from the pollen not the liquor sadly)...and my brain wasn't working as well as I'd like. So...you were warned.

* * *

prompt: "say, ahh..."

'**yes, ma'am'**

She couldn't say when the moment of realization came. It would probably be closer to the truth to say that she had always known. In much the same way she knew that her mother and father where her mother and father, she knew she was Hellsing.

And would be until death.

**~x~**

"Hope, do you realize what Alucard and Seras are?"

"They are vampires, father."

"Do you fear them?"

"No."

"You should."

"Uncle Aidan says that fear comes most often from the unknown. Once known, the fear will leave. I know Uncle Alucard and Aunt Seras. I cannot be afraid of them."

"Sometimes your Uncle Aidan is wrong. Sometimes, the more you know of something, the more you should fear it."

**~x~**

Her days were spent with her Uncle and Aunt, tutors of her school life, and her mother, tutor of things less intellectual. Regimented and sure, the facts of the world were crammed into her world at a rate far in excess to the world around them. When children were learning the basics of grammar and punctuation, she was learning of the rise and fall of empires. When other children were learning of the branches of life, she was identifying mitosis. When they were at recess, she was learning to kill.

And then one day, at nine years of age, her uncle set aside the books on history and science and took out a tome of fantasy and folklore.

Then, her true education started.

**~x~**

"There are monsters in this world. Some roam the streets as normal humans only showing their true colors in the perversions they inflict on others. There are rapists and murderers who have little care about the harm they cause. These are the monsters of the human race."

"Yes, sir."

"There are law enforcement agencies and military personnel to deal with these people. Policemen to deal with the common criminal and generals to deal with the extraordinary."

"Yes, sir."

"And then there are other sorts of monsters."

"You mean vampires."

"And they are just like us. Some of them are quiet and calm and prefer to do nothing but spend their unlife in a quiet way bothering no one. There are also those who are true monsters, killing and perverting the human race. They commit crimes far more atrocious than anything the ordinary human being can conceive of."

"Ordinary?"

"I will never lie to you and say that some of the worst monsters are not humans who forgot themselves."

"Yes, sir."

"But vampires are worse than humans. Can you tell me why?"

"Because they are stronger than we are."

"Yes, they are stronger. They are faster. Some of them can go beyond physical abilities and have mental and magical abilities that normal civilians can hope to defend themselves from. And they are smart."

"So are humans."

"As sick as humans can be, Hope, the psychotic mind of a soul that has been wandering the earth for centuries is far more dangerous than anything else."

"Yes, sir."

"And because of all this, it is our job to exterminate the vampire vermin that threaten our homes and our people."

"Yes, sir."

**~x~**

When she was ten, her parents grudgingly allowed Aidan to sit her down and show her a few videos. Not unlike home videos, the images were somewhat distorted and contained familiar people.

Unlike them, they were stolen from security feeds.

Like Hollywood movies, they were filled with gore and violence that would make the most seasoned veterans blanch in fear and disgust.

Unlike those movies, they were real.

**~x~**

"Aunt Seras?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Are you a killer?"

"Hmm…I would like to think that is not the best way to describe me. Killing is not my first inclination nor is it what I think about most days."

"You still do it though. I saw the videos."

"Your uncle does keep some interesting videos hanging around doesn't he?"

"Aunt Seras…."

"Yes, Hope, I have killed and will continue to kill. It is my duty to destroy the vampires that threaten the lives of the people of our country."

"Have you ever thought of killing anyone else?"

"Yes. I have even tried before."

"Tried?"

"I was younger than you so it didn't work out really well."

"Oh…. Do you still think about killing people?"

"Sometimes. I think everyone does. There are hundreds of people out there that are willing to hurt people for no particular reason. I would be lying to say that I didn't consider it. Perhaps it is the cop in me."

"You are a cop?"

"I was, a very long time ago."

"Are you a monster?"

"…Some would say yes. I think I'm me."

"Why don't you lie?"

"Oh, I lie plenty. But I won't ever lie to you, Hope sweetheart."

"Why not?"

"Well, two reasons I think. First, is because of your great-great Grandmother. You remind me of her and she always wanted the truth. No matter how harsh."

"And the second?"

"Because, Hope Alexandria Shannon Hellsing, there will be hundreds of people who will line up in your life to tell you all sorts of mistruthes in order to have you think well of them or believe nonsense. I will never lie to you because you need one person in your life who never will."

"What about Uncle Alucard?"

"…I wouldn't touch that question with a ten-foot pole."

**~x~**

As the years went by, her lessons began to focus less on traditional academics and more on leadership and strategy. She was learning the family business to one day take over. And in a business like theirs, there was no telling how young she would have to take over.

The thought scared her, though she wouldn't tell anyone that. She knew her Grandmother Integra had taken over when she was twelve and her own father had when he was seventeen. At eleven, the idea of her so young parents being killed was as heart wrenching as it was impossible to imagine. Most days, she tried not to think about it, but at nights, the thoughts would frequently take over.

It was ironic, perhaps, that the thought that calmed her most was that she had three vampires to protect her family from the scary monsters they spent their lives learning to kill.

**~x~**

"Michael, do you hate me?"

"That is an unusually stupid question, Hope."

"I spend my days learning how to kill your kind. Everyone here does. There has to be _some_ level of discomfort going on in your head."

"I understand that there are monsters of every race and just as there are people who spend their entire lives learning to kill the evil men of the earth, there are those who must kill the evil vampires."

"Do you ever think we'll have to kill you?"

"Not really. I can't imagine ever getting the urge to go on a completely insane killing spree or attempting global domination."

"That sounds more like your father."

"He was more about protecting his own people. Secretly I think Mum wants to take over the world though."

"I don't think I can picture that."

"You should try. Sometimes, I think she is more ruthless than Father ever was. He saw life as a challenge and a puzzle to be solved. She just did what it took to get things done."

"Perhaps. But…there are people who talk and there are people who do. I'd prefer to be the latter."

"Good. Because that is the job you are destined to have."

**~x~**

There was only one boy in her life. She was kept from ordinary schools and only met children her own age at extended family parties or functions of the Royal Court. And so, when her mind began to turn to the other gender, there was only one for her to turn her eyes to.

And he was one she could never have.

Whatever else, she was a Hellsing first. And whatever else her family may do with vampires, befriend, trust and love, they could not become one. It was their duty to remain men. It was their lot in life to destroy the monsters.

And so, at the tender age of twelve, she knew that the first boy to capture her heart and mind, the first and only boy for years to treat her kindly and take up her thoughts and affections, was the only boy she could not have. Her White Night was a Dark Prince and she could not ride off with him into the distance.

That was her duty.

And her curse.

**~x~**

"How long will you stay around, Michael?"

"Presumably long after you are gone, I hate to say."

"I'm sorry that one day I'll make you sad."

"I'm not too worried about it at the moment. And I'm sure you'll have annoying children that I'll watch after you are gone. And then their children and then on."

"Gee, thanks."

"It is as much your duty to have a child as it is to run this place, you know."

"…Yeah, I know."

"In the meantime, I will stay with you always."

"As my servant."

"As your friend."

* * *

AN: As I said...kinda plotless. More than anything, I think it does take a gentle reminder that no matter who it is or how happy their family, being the leader of Hellsing is going to suck. Period.

So I feel for Hope. Perhaps that is why she got saddled with such a cheesy name.

Tomorrow will probably be a similiar type with either Michael or Shiara. Probably Shiara.

Thank you for your kind words, as always. I will be reviewing any story suggestions and trying to work them into place.

Away i go. To Muse! Awesome band, btw. Due this and yesterdays fun (but frightfully sober) partying, I'm away from my home computer and thus will not be able to respond to most of my reviews as I try. That will have to wait til Friday.

Til next time!


	24. ‘what’s a psychopath?’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Muse, one of the best live bands...ever.

Note: Yeah...concert the night after St. Patrick's Day? This leads to PURE BRAIN MUSH. I tried, I really did. And I think this came out halfway decent. And, like yesterday, it is more supposed to be backstory and buildup than anything. Children, while hilarious, aren't as plot driven as the stories I'd like to put out. So..interum writing it is! It's a bit odd, not really completeing one thought before moving onto the next...but that is sort of who Shiara is...and, like I said, tired. So...tired.

SHAMELESS PLUG: My beta, Syrenity, has finally gotten around to posting some works on here. So far it is in the Greek Mythology section (so a bit different from this, I know) and if you take a fancy, please give it a look. She's new to the whole fanfiction thing and needs some encouragement.

* * *

prompt: red

'**what's a psychopath?'**

She was the flower girl in her own parents' wedding. Something about that should have been odd to her, but it wasn't. She knew other children her age might have felt a hatred for their father for not living with them, but she didn't. She saw him as often as he could.

And then one day he proposed (again) and she said yes (finally). With that, she had a complete family, a new place to live and a myriad of interesting people around her.

**~x~**

She couldn't say that she remembered meeting Seras Victoria. She was fairly sure that somewhere in there there was a first meeting but…not that she could precisely recall. In the way that infantile memory so often was, there were perfect moments of recollection but what order they happened in always seemed to escape her.

No, Seras was just a part of her life. The same as Aunt Winter and Uncle Elliot were. The same way her mother and father were. She was just there. She did know that there had always been two things she associated with the blonde woman whose ready smiles shined down on her.

First, she was fun. Always good for a laugh or a game, she would shower her with one-hundred percent of her attention. It didn't matter how many adults were in the room, Seras could turn all of her focus on the children and seemed to find no happiness greater than joining in the game.

For this, the woman gained her absolute adoration and devotion.

The second was harder for her young mind to explain. All she knew is that her mother seemed a little happier when the lady was around. Something about her mother relaxed when she was around. It was not the happiness she had when Aunt Winter was around or when Da came around. It was a quieter bit of happiness.

And for that, she gained Shiara's love and loyalty.

**~x~**

Her memories of Alucard and Michael blurred in her extreme youth. She met them at the same time and had to confess to similar ideas towards the two. Both inspired curiosity, awe and a deep seeded fascination. There was an aura around them that was frankly intriguing and unnerving. Even as she remembered holding the infant boy in her arms, she knew there was something special about him.

The strange man who had an aura of danger around him fascinated her and she hesitated to speak to him at all until Seras suggested she play a joke on him.

And after that, she found a partner in crime.

**~x~**

"Why is it you listen to everything Shiara tells you to do and you ignore me completely?"

"What can I say, little Irishman, I like your daughter better."

**~x~**

She grew up realizing that the children around her were different from her. The children she went to school with did not go home to a strange home filled with para-military personnel and people who discussed death and destruction over tea and cakes. Even the two children who grew up in the house with her seemed separate from her, an aura of destiny and doom hanging around their shoulders.

She felt at times like an island in the middle of a vast river. Everything around her had a specific purpose and flowed to its next point without hesitation. She stood motionless, refusing to be carried away but refusing to take part. On the outside of the chaos were those like her, still in a world of fluid motion, but they were far away, distant greater by the turmoil that separated them.

Even then…they were still different. They were ordinary out of reality. She fought.

It was a strangeness to her. Sometimes she wondered what it would be to go with the flow of those around her. What it would be to simply give in to the life she came home to everyday from school. But, for reasons she could only guess at, she could never let herself.

And then, one day, she found out what the rushing water around her was truly about and she wondered at plunging in.

**~x~**

"You don't burst into flames when you go out into the sunlight."

The two people in the room turned their gaze to her, chess pieces tense in their stillness as she reached over to grab another.

"It doesn't kill us, no. I still hate it," he offered with a shrug.

"Does it work that way for all vampires or just you?"

"Any true vampire can resist sunlight."

"Well, master vampire. 'True' vampire can be left up to interpretation."

"No, it cannot."

She blinked at them, approaching the bickering couple with eyes widened by truth. If she'd thought about it before, she could have pinned Alucard for being a vampire. He was dark and somewhat scary. He could also plot with the best of them. So, the realization that he was a vampire wasn't too odd to her.

Seras though…that had come as a severe shock.

"You don't act like a vampire."

"Sure I do. I'm a vampire so I act like a vampire."

Alucard rolled his eyes at her answer but didn't argue.

"Why don't you ask what you really want to know, little red?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath to stabilize her still young mind.

"Should I be scared of you?"

Both vampires laughed at the question and Seras stood to walk over and kneel before her.

"Were you afraid of us before?"

"No…."

"Then I see no reason for you to be afraid of us now."

"But…."

"Shiara Fitzpatrick, put your excellent mind to better worries. If we were going to harm you, we would have done it already."

"Yes, sir!"

**~x~**

If the realization that the sprightly and energetic woman who more often than not joined in their rather silly games was a vampire was shocking, the fact that her son was one as well was down right strange. Raised as practically a sibling to both herself and Hope, it was a weird shift in reality to look at the two as they sat side by side in their work and know that one was being raised to efficiently kill the other.

She loved the both of them dearly, taking after her father in the obligation she felt to protect them from the horrors of their world. She looked to them as the people she would protect at the cost of her own life if needs be. It was her duty.

And then, suddenly, she wasn't sure.

If it truly came to it, and they had to fight each other as destined enemies on the opposite sides of the same war, which would win?

Which did she _want_ to win?

She couldn't answer the question that rolled over and over in her mind every time she saw the two of them working companionably on some playtime project. They were just children after all, practically babies still. They were hardly people and suddenly they had a strange destiny.

It was a question that plagued her for years. She watched their joint projects go from building block constructions to working out advanced homework. She watched Hope grow from a toddler into a pretty young girl with a head on her shoulder and a mind of steel. She watched the innate sense of pride the girl carried with her and knew more than ever she would follow her into whatever mischief she would create. Hope was a natural born leader raised for the life she would one day lead.

Shiara knew that she would help the girl she considered a sister until the day she required it no more. She would devote no small amount of her life and attention to whatever needs Hope had.

But she was never much of a follower, no matter who the leader.

And Michael…Michael became an entirely different story.

**~x~**

"Da, what do you do when you can't solve a problem?"

"I give it even more thought."

"What if you've thought over it for years?"

"We aren't talking math or science here, Red, are we?"

"No."

"Well, then, I would ask myself if I already knew the answer to my question and just didn't want to answer it."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because, sometimes, my heart, we like to think we are better than we really are. We like to think we are conflicted because of good and righteous things and not because of guilt."

"Does that make us bad then?"

"Nope. Just makes us human."

**~x~**

Suddenly, she knew.

* * *

AN: So...yeah. There will be more on Michael, mysterious fellow that he is, on Monday. And with him comes actual plot! Whee! I vaguely remember what that is.

Thanks to all reviews! I am going to try and get some responses out a little later this afternoon.

After a nap. A long, long nap.

Til next time!


	25. ‘I dinna think I’m too old to learn…’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Metropolis Kid who put the idea in my head (again?) and to Kevin who gave me the music to write it to.

Note: So yeah...I meant to write about Michael today...but this idea came to me and I decided to do it before his (since he takes them out of childhood). And then there was a sudden unplanned venture out of doors leaving me away from my computer until about two hours ago. So...it's a bit rubbish.

Sorry that it isn't what it should be for the wait.

* * *

'**I dinna think I'm too old to learn sommat new'**

"Mother, I think at eleven years of age, I am more than old enough to watch after myself."

"Don't you 'mother' me, Shiara. It won't work," Maureen scolded with a raised eyebrow as she worked at the clasp of her necklace. "Besides, the 'babysitter' isn't for you. It is for Michael and Hope."

"Unless _you_ want to be blamed and held responsible for all the mischief that they get up to while all of us are out at the Queen's do," her father commented from across the room with a grin.

She blinked at him before a cherubic grin grew on her face.

"I think not."

**~x~**

When the Queen issued a formal invitation that the three 'head couples' of the Hellsing Institute attend her annual International Relationship Extravaganza (aptly summed up as I.R.E., an emotion that filled most that were forced to going to it), it became clear that a babysitter would be necessary. While normally mature and understanding, when left to their own devices, the three children of the household could create mischief that their fond parents could only have dreamed of in their youth. However with all of the family out of the house and Ethan and Sakura away visiting his parents, who was there to ask?

In truth, there was an entire battalion full of men and women who would jump at the chance to ingratiate themselves with the Hellsing higher ups (especially the vampires). Still, a good deal of them were barely older than children themselves (so Alucard would comment). So, the question came down to one point that Elliot so eloquently voiced.

"Who is the oldest, crotchetiest bastard we have around?"

The universal answer: Captain Ryan Douglas.

"He's a mean old soldier. I'm sure he'll scare some respect into the lot."

Or so, they naively hoped.

**~x~**

The three children watched their collective parents make the way out of the Institute standing beside the aging Scottish captain. When the vehicle was out of sight completely, he turned to look over his collective charges with a fierce glare. For the first time, the three stood stock still in a silent fear, unnerved by this new terror their parents thought to leave them with. He wasn't one of the men who regularly visited the manor and the children. He was different.

An enemy.

And then something remarkable happened. He bent his considerably frame down low to match eyes with the three tense children and asked them a question.

"Tell me, how far do yeh think a ricochet could carry down these ole stone walls?"

The three blinked for a moment as he stared and then…a slow smile crept upon their faces.

"Want to find out?"

"Yes, sir!"

**~x~**

Shiara paused in her motions, poised to throw yet another rubber ball down the stone hallways that filled the ancient manor home. She turned her gaze to the grinning man at her side.

"Aren't you supposed to be a responsible adult?"

"Define responsible."

"Aren't you supposed to be a scary old bastard who is supposed to put the fear of God into us so we behave when our parents are off having enough liquor to forget that they are at a formal event mandated by the Queen?"

"I suppose I'm suppose ter be. But then, lass, let this be a lesson to yeh."

"And what would that be?"

"Appearances can be deceiving. Dunna ever just go on them alone."

"Yes, sir."

**~x~**

"I think that there would mark the end of that lil experiment," he sighed, looking down at the shattered remains of a vase. "Any of yeh know how important this here bit of fawdle is?"

"My grandmother gave it to my Mam. I don't think she'll miss it overly much," Shiara reassured.

"Good, good," Captain Douglas commented with a nod. "That one went most of the way through the house. Good enough place to stop."

"So…now what?"

He looked down at Michael who seemed poised halfway between humor and suspicion. At seven, the boy seemed more like thirty and at eight, Hope was far cleverer than most of the adults he knew. They all three of them knew that no matter what, the end of the night would probably come with more than a few admonishments from their parents. Especially after the famous incident last time they were away with setting the kitchen on fire.

How they managed to do it by warming up some blood was anyone's guess. All the same, it had been a disturbing sight.

Still, they were already damned for the vase. Might as well make the most of it. After a point, there was only so much trouble you could be in.

"I think that ballroom yer mother got all shiny and polished in there might be a spot of fun with those office chairs that roll around. Iffen yer up to it…."

He had barely finished talking before they were running off in the direction of the office.

"Guess that'll be an aye then."

**~x~**

"You think they'll notice the dent we put in the wall, Captain?"

"Not iffen you make the floor sparkle. Get rid of the scuffs and make it shine…that'll distract the eye."

"Really?" Hope asked, fascinated.

"Fer at least a month."

"I'll get the mop," Michael agreed.

**~x~**

"Well, yer parents should be home in the next hour or more. I think it is best that at least you lassies get into yer beds."

"Will you tell us a story?"

"Aren't we a bit old for bedtime stories, Hope?" Shiara asked with a frown.

"I'm sure he has far better stories than Mum does," Michael argued. "She keeps them boring and silly."

"They never tell us anything scary at all."

He grinned down at them. "Well, get into your jimjams and I tell yer the story of Sawney Bean. That'll be sure to keep yer up."

"Yes!"

**~x~**

The group of adults stumbled through the front door with a combination of emotions showing from their faces. Looking around, they found the Captain sitting in a chair in the sitting room just off the main entryway. Book in hand and glass of brandy (nearly full) sitting beside him, he looked completely at ease.

"How were the children, Captain Douglas?"

He looked at his employer with a meager smile.

"They were good enough. The two lassies are in bed and the lad is downstairs reading his schoolin' books."

Elliot stared at him, exchanging startled (but happy) looks with his wife and in-laws. Seras and Alucard seemed amused but reserved comment.

"Did they give you any fuss?"

"Not after I had them clean the ballroom floor. Sparkles fine enough for you to see yer reflection in it."

"Oh…well…that's brilliant," Elliot muttered, nodding his head. "Thank you very much for your assistance then."

"Yer very welcome for it. Just gotta teach the youngins how to behave right. Then they listen to yer just fine," he instructed as he got to his feet. "I'm sure ye'll learn, in time."

"I'm sure," Seras agreed with a grin.

"Oh, yes, before I forget, I had a wee accident with the vase in the study. I'll be more than happy to repay ye fer it. Jus' let me know the fine."

"I'm sure it's fine," Winter commented with a smile. "Now get into bed. You are getting a bit old to be up all night."

"I'll agree with ye on that one. Not as spry as I used to be."

With a quick round of handshakes and a few goodnights, the man exited the building, spring in his step as soon as he was out of sight.

"Well, that went well," Maureen commented with a smile. "Should we bring him in again?"

"I'm sure the kids will hate it…but I think we just might."

"How nice to find someone the kids will all mind."

"Isn't it?"

* * *

AN: I'll give a penny to anyone who can tell me where we saw Captain Douglas (or maybe a dedication...*shrug*)

As I said, its a bit rubbish. Rushed more like. Sorry. Tomorrow's will be better, that I can promise.

Til next time.


	26. ‘quod me non necat me corrobat’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: For Angel Reaper, for no particular reason aside of her looking forward to Michael and being an awesome repeat offender when it comes to reviews.

Note: Brain cells! How I've missed thee! Insert plot here. Well the startings of plot. I figured actual plot deserved its own chapter. That'll come tomorrow. ^_^

* * *

prompt: rush (don't ask)

'**quod me non necat me corrobet'**

He wasn't ordinary. He knew that straight from the start. Awareness came early for him, so he was told, seeing the world as it was at a far earlier age than an infant should. Never once did the adoring tone of voice his mother used when telling him such things give hints to the negative. He was all that was wonderful in his fond parents' eye. They showered him with praise, each in their own way, and gave him all the love and devotion a child could hope for.

So, it wasn't til later that he realized he was, in fact, a freak.

It didn't occur to him until he was two or three that most children were up during the day and asleep at night. Perhaps a year later, he realized that most children didn't take sustenance through the blood of others. When his curious mind brought these differences to his parents, his mother had smiled sadly and ruffled his hair.

"It is because you aren't like those plain ordinary children, Michael. You are _extra_ordinary."

"Then, mama, what am I like?"

"You are like us."

And so the careful explanation of his true nature began. It started with little things and grew to bigger and deeper concepts as he grew older. Somehow, his mother seemed to know exactly how much he could take in and when the precise moment he would be able to understand something else came.

Father told him it was because she was psychic.

He figured it was because she was his mother and mothers are like that.

But even under his mother's careful tutelage, he began to discover that he was far more different from those around him than he originally supposed.

He had a pulse. He took breath.

He knew that both of his parents _could_ do either of these (his mother more likely of the two to fall into the habit) but neither of them _had_ to. It was not a regular function of their body. They had no need.

So, he approached them once more for answers and found that they had only guesses. Ideas of a growing child still needing the confines of human physicality. His body was still maturing so the flow of blood to the various organs was more necessary. The oxygen refreshed the blood and made things grow better.

They had their theories, anyway.

But, it was then that he found out that he was as unnatural to the vampire world as he was to the human. A child born to master vampires, it was all but unheard of.

And so it was with that mindset that at the tender age of seven, he began to view the world for the aspects that made him normal…somehow.

**~x~**

It was hard to delude yourself into believing in normality when you grew faster than the children around you. At age three, there had been no discernable difference. At age seven, he looked more like he was ten. By eleven, he looked the same age as Shiara who was a full four years older. By fifteen, he was fully-grown.

Hope complained about this bitterly.

"Why is it that you are younger than me but look old enough to buy liquor in any country in the world?"

"Because, Hope, I was blessed with superior genes."

"'Chael, don't force me to shoot you."

"That would be cheating."

**~x~**

He adored Hope.

She was a living contradiction in some ways, constantly at war with a nature that both abhorred violence and reveled in it. She was both simplistic and complicated, a natural strategist and a straightforward brash leader of men and a follower of strength.

She simply couldn't make up her mind what sort of person she was and he loved her for it. She was the most perfect (and really _only_) sister he could ask for. Her constant companionship was vital to his sanity as he found himself oscillating between two extreme personalities. She was a favored companion and a constant source of amusement. He knew one day she would more or less be his master and found no trouble in the idea.

She was a good girl, woman, and he was proud to know and grow up with her.

But he wasn't stupid.

Whether from the slightly-psychic aura he got from his mother or his pure observation skills he received from his father, he knew. He knew that the looks she afforded him were all too often not of a platonic nature. He knew she was having thoughts that he found somewhat distasteful. He also knew that she would never act on them.

That she was only having them in the first place because he was _there_.

Not a flattering thought to his male ego but a valid one. So, he spent his days quietly pretending not to notice and she spent her days struggling with the concept. The two got along quite nicely in a mixture of sibling harmony and childhood friendship.

**~x~**

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"The same, really. A fun stage between alive and dead and horribly sarcastic in between."

Shiara glared at him fiercely as she sat twiddling a pen between her thumb and forefinger, ignoring her homework all together.

"I'm not entirely certain, but I'm fairly sure I _could_ kill you."

"And then you would have my Mum and Father to contend with. I'm sure that is high on your list of things to do," he responded carelessly as he flipped a page in the book he was reading.

"I'm sure I could convince them it was an accident."

"A-levels getting to you, Shiara?"

She sighed, thumping her head down on the library table.

"Bite me."

"I could really do that, you know," he remarked, eyeing her over his book. "You shouldn't tempt a thirsty man."

She glared at him for a moment before turning her face down to her books once more.

"It's no fair. How come you don't have to do this shit?"

"Well, two reasons really," Michael replied, dropping his feet from the table and closing his book to look down at the back of her head. "First, because I'm home schooled and rightly so."

"I think having a vampire in school would make it vastly more entertaining."

"Second," he continued with a smirk, "despite all physical appearance and the ability to do coursework beyond your level, I am still, in fact, four years younger than you."

She picked her head up enough to shoot him a look that just might have killed if his life hadn't been a point of contention to begin with.

"Rub it in why don't you?"

"I think I shall," he agreed, patting her lightly on the head before picking his book up to read once more.

**~x~**

Sometimes, he felt like there were two people residing inside his mind and body. When he was younger, he believed that they were his respective parents. Laughter and amusement and love of life sitting side by side with the vicious urge to kill, destroy and conquer. As he got older, though, he began to realize that both of his parents embodied those same traits. There were equal parts humor and violence in both of them. The only difference was in his mother's continued innocence and his father's perpetual cynicism.

They were the light and dark versions of each other.

The idea, when it finally came to him, gave him comfort. As much as he was different from those around him, he was still the same as his parents. There were still those around him who were of a like mind and spirit as he. It just took some digging deep to find it.

**~x~**

"You know, kid, you kind of remind me of your parents. Both of them. And that can be a bit weird at times."

"You know, Aidan, so do you."

"That, Pale and Pasty, is a very scary thought."

"Weakling."

**~x~**

One day, out of the blue, he realized that he was craving human blood.

He actually stopped in the middle of the hallway at this realization, startling as it was in its simplicity. He always craved blood, it was his nature. But…lately, it had just not been satisfying him. He wanted – needed – something different. For weeks he wondered what it was, what was the difference? And then, one day as he wandered the hallways in the last hours of light before the night conquered all, he saw her.

She was acting no different than usual, playing a series of flurried notes on the piano as she (and all of them) had been trained to do since practically birth. The light shone briefly on her bare neck as she moved her arms in the complicated piece. Bare skin was highlighted in golden notes and he was struck still, almost stumbling to a halt.

He wanted to drink of her.

He wanted to bite into her tender flesh and draw out the sweet pourings of her still warm life. He wanted to take her into him and revel in the peace her sacrifice would give him. He wanted to dominate her and make her his. He wanted _her_.

His pause lasted for only moments as these thoughts filtered into him and he found himself screaming in his mind to continue on even as his feet refused to budge. Then, as if noticing her audience, she began to turn her face towards the door. That action got him moving and, suddenly, he was running, nearly faster than the eye could track, and escaping to his room, back pressed to the door as his own thoughts consumed him.

He wasn't satisfied because his nature was asking for far more than the cold donated blood packets could give.

His nature wanted _her_.

**~x~**

At fifteen, he had a talk with his parents about the birds and the bees. Carrion birds and killer bees of the vampirc world aside, he left the conversation feeling far more confused and one hundred percent more certain all at once. He knew what he wanted but was miles from understanding why or how or _if_.

Through all of it, one thing his father said stood out in his head. The way he said the words and the way his mother's face had softened in an emotion he so rarely saw. The complete moment played over and over again in his head, trying to impart some sort of meaning and wisdom into his chaotic mind of labyrinthine thoughts and overwhelming emotions.

_"Sometimes, son, there is no reason behind it. At times like that, there are just moments when you know what you want and there is no rationality behind it, you simply want it. You have no choice. The only choice is what you do next."_

And so…he knew what he wanted. What to do next was up to him.

And her.

* * *

AN: Dun dun duun...or something like that right? I'm beginning to think that my prompts are more and more descriptive of my insanity than the story themselves.

So Michael's story arc begins tomorrow. It's more his than anyone elses I think. Whatever, you'll see. Thanks for everyone who gave interest. I'm thinking this story arc will sum up MUCH faster than Aidan and Maureen's did. So...I may be taking further requests by the end of all this to fill up the remaining stories. We'll see.

Thank you for being wonderful peoples. ^_^

Til next time.


	27. ‘irrevocably’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To 0-Girlycard-0 who pointed out a transcription error turned grammar error (my hadwriting is TRULY atrocious. Everyone tells me I should be a doctor) and who made my day with their kind words.

Note: ^_^

* * *

prompt: good night

'**irrevocably'**

Strange things happened at night. Creatures that could not thrive in the full light of the day, the glare of science and truth pouring into every corner of mysticism and secrets, came out at the crest of dusk. The imagination ran wild with the hunters and prey ran scared as the power of faerie stories took hold. What once looked safe and ordinary became demonic and rare. What once might have been an empty room was a manifestation of potential monsters.

In the day, logic ruled, at night…madness.

And really, he was only awake at night.

**~x~**

Trying to avoid people in a single house was next to impossible. No matter how large that house may be. When it came to keeping away from some people, a mansion might as well be an efficiency flat when it came to being able to keep to oneself.

Especially when it came to girls.

Somehow his father managed it. He'd have to ask him what the trick was one day.

In the meantime, peach and quiet with his own thoughts was the last thing in the world that was likely to happen to him. It was a fact he accepted grudgingly when the moment he stepped out of his bedroom, he found them waiting for him with grins on their faces.

**~x~**

"Why are you forcing me to pick out gowns with you again?"

He sighed deeply, looking at the ceiling again as the two girls shopped through the core network for formal dresses. On the computer with the biggest projector in the house. For the past hour.

"Because you are going _with_ her to the Debutante Ball," Shiara pointed out with a mad grin.

"I completely do not remember agreeing to this."

"You didn't. I'm ordering you to. Since you went with Shiara to hers," Hope commented distractedly, shifting the display to show different sides of a particular dress.

"That was hilarious."

"Only for you," he sighed. "You got to lord it over the other girls that you were there with an 'older man.' You are so lucky I didn't tell them all straight out that I'm four years younger than you."

"They wouldn't believe you. It's only been two years since then and you already look like you are twenty five," the redhead laughed with glee.

"Which is still completely not fair. I'm seventeen and half the people I come across say I look like I'm twelve. You on the other hand look a decade older."

"Mm," Shiara mused, pursing her lips as she looked at him. "Nope. I'd still say a solid twenty-five. Hasn't actually been aging as much recently. Maybe one of us will catch up soon."

"By one of us, you mean _you_," the blonde sighed. "Screw it. I'm going to Covent Garden tomorrow."

"Does that mean I can go?" Michael asked, looking up hopefully.

"Yes, I suppose."

He was gone before she finished talking.

**~x~**

Avoiding her without her knowing he was avoiding her was getting to be pretty difficult. It wasn't so bad when they had their occasional one-on-one conversations but there was beginning to get a tension in the air every time the usual jokes passed. Something he could feel as close as a blanket over his face. Smothering and hot, he wanted to rip it away knowing it would bring instant relief…but afraid all the same that he might reveal himself to the monsters. Or the bitter cold. Pick your analogy.

So he tried to avoid the situation all together.

Instead, he tried to be in her company only when other people were too. Or she was doing schoolwork. She was generally safe when there was a textbook in front of her. Muttering and shouting occasional obscenities, yes, but safe from the tense atmosphere he felt around her. He wondered, in those moments, as he smirked over his own coursework, if she even felt the tension.

He honestly didn't know.

What he _did_ know was that it was a bad idea for them to be alone. Once the silence fell, his thoughts began to turn to directions that he was fairly sure would disturb her. Thoughts of touch and taste and smell. Thoughts of what it would be to conquer her and make her his. Of what it would be like to use his superior strength to capture her essence, her soul, her heart.

Thoughts of things teenage boys are usually far less poetic about.

But it was impossible.

Inevitably, he would find himself alone with her. The tension would spread out and slow time like muzak on an elevator. And the air would push down on him and he would struggle with finding something innocuous to say. Something to make the situation light and fun as it had been for so many years before. And he would fail miserably at the attempt succeeding only once someone else stumbled into the stagnant conversation giving it new life and air like a crowd released from a broken elevator.

Mostly, he knew to completely avoid the music room.

At all costs.

Which, sometimes, weren't enough.

**~x~**

"_Michael, I'm never going to harass you into doing something you don't want to (that's your father's job), but if you are going to take up an instrument, you really should master it. Especially when you seem genuinely talented at it."_

He stared down at the violin in its case and sighed. His mother was right (as she often was) and he really _did_ like the instrument. It was just that he had begun to realize that playing it invited musical accompaniment. And watching her play the piano was more than he could usually take. It led to muttered curses and bad excuses to leave the room.

Still, it should be pretty safe on that particular night. The girls, despite Hope's statement to the otherwise, would most likely be busy worrying about frippery in one of their rooms. They should be distracted until they were ready for sleep. He hoped. Their hours were even weirder than his own most days.

With a sigh, he grabbed the case and headed for the formal ballroom, just in case.

Which, as he should have known, was his mistake.

**~x~**

"Oh good, we'll have accompaniment."

He cursed softly as he dropped his bow and looked over to Shiara as she stood in the doorway.

"Why in the name of all that is sane are you wearing a ballgown, Red?"

"Because, 'Chael," she grinned as she swept into the room, turning on the lights he had left dark, "Hope told me she hadn't practiced any of her dances since my mother stopped forcing us all to learn all those years ago."

"And that requires _you_ to dress up like a princess…why?"

"A princess? Really?" She worried her lip as she looked at her reflection in the glass. "I guess. I could go for slinky. Slinky dresses are good. More seductive." She shrugged and turned back to him. "I told her I would help her learn the best ways of not tripping over the ridiculous monstrosity she will be wearing."

He rolled his eyes. "And now you are going to be opportunistic and have me play for you?"

"Well, actually, I brought music."

She held up a compact music device and placed it on the chair beside where he had been sitting. A few button touches later and a symphony began to play in the crisp sound quality that only the finest technologies could provide.

"Your father has been tinkering again, hasn't he?"

"Indeed, he has," she confirmed with a grin. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the dance floor. "Help me out, I'm rusty."

With a smirk, he took her hand and placed his other on her waist, moving them both in time to the music.

"Somehow, I don't think that rusty is a word that can be applied to you about _anything_. You have too much of your father in you to ever let something languish unpracticed."

She shrugged, nimbly moving in time. "Perhaps. Perhaps not."

"Are you admitting to some sin? Something you have forgotten to pay close attention to? Some great secret of the universe you forgot to solve?"

Her violet eyes flashed in humor for a moment before thought seeped in and a resigned concern filtered over her features.

"More the things I choose not to do."

"Avoiding things?"

She gave him a sad half smile. "Can you say you never avoid things, 'Chael?"

He smirked back at her. "Not honestly."

"No fair that you two started without me!"

The pair stumbled to a halt, Shiara misstepping and catching her heel on the fine fabric. Rending silk filled the room and everyone winced away from the sound, looking down at the large gash in the fine dress only when it had stopped.

"Well, that's embarrassing." She looked over at Michael with a cheeky grin and tapped his shoulder. "Tag, your it!"

And with no other words, she flounced from the room, shoving Hope slightly more inside.

"Aunt Maureen will not be happy about that."

"It's just a dress. And it is nowhere near as pretty as the one you are wearing," he answered, bowing slightly over her hand.

She blushed, fair skin rosing up prettily. "Flattery will get you no where. Especially false flattery."

"The way I see it," he argued, taking her hand to lead her in the dance with less hesitation than he would usually verbally give, "is that you find the element of truth in something and then expand it. You really do look very pretty, Hope."

Her cheeks reddened further but she laughed all the same. "Where did you learn all that anyhow?"

"Father. He says it is an excellent idea to learn to flirt and flatter women. He says it makes them shut up far more quickly. Mother hit him when he said that."

"And I suppose I'm supposed to _not_ hit you?"

"I never said I was flattering you though did I? I was just paying and honest compliment."

She nodded and the silence stretched between them. It seemed as if neither could think of what to say and so they let the music over take them and the dance.

**~x~**

Touching her was the worst.

The moment he felt her skin graze his, he wanted to let every image he had created in the past year take over. He wanted to let his hands roam over every inch of her skin. To feel the softness of her flesh, to taste the secrets she held.

He wanted her so badly that it took every ounce of his control to stop him from taking her right then and there. He forced himself to let her go when their time was done. He made himself smile as she left the room. He swallowed every curse and tried to turn his eyes away lest she notice and find him looking after her like a starved man. He pretended he was still safe and familiar and everything she seemed to enjoy.

He let her think he was a gentleman and a friend.

Inside, he screamed in frustration.

Outside, he smirked.

**~x~**

"You know, smoking is bad for you."

He blew out a cloud of smoke into the crisp night air and looked up to the stars, searching their maze of wonder for an answer as to how she seemed to always know where he was. They didn't give him any answer that he could comprehend. Pity.

"It's not like they will give me cancer or anything. I'm more or less dead. Fairly sure I can't get too sick when my body isn't alive to carry disease."

She leaned against the stone wall that lined the balcony. "You never know. You aren't precisely all the way dead. Nor are your parents, really. Learned about that. He made himself into a vampire without dying. And your mom could have you…means that you probably shouldn't take chances. You still breathe and all."

"Not really. Not anymore," he corrected, taking a slow drag on the cigarette. "I realized the other day that I don't have to anymore. I can even tell my heart to stop beating."

Cocking her head to one side, she peered at him curiously. "I wonder what that means."

He shrugged. "Maybe it means I'm done growing. Maybe I was born alive and now I'm dead. Maybe this is what I'll look like for the rest of my extremely long life."

Her lips curved up at one side and she drew a hand up to brush some hair away from his face and stroke a finger down his cheek. Her gaze was wistful, as if her thoughts were elsewhere, and he wondered briefly if it would cover the way he suddenly stiffened under touch.

"You are pretty hot. It wouldn't be too bad a thing if you stayed this way forever." Her gaze grew mischievous and her smile turned into laughter. "I didn't think you blushed."

"I blame it on Mum," he muttered blowing the smoke out into the night air once more.

"You should. She blushes all the time. You'd think after all those years living with your father she'd get over it."

He shook his head with a chuckle. "I think he works very hard to find new ways of making her blush. That and…," he shrugged. "I think she will always be far more innocent and pure than any of the rest of us ever will be."

She turned her body to face out to the still grounds of the Institute, empty in the last hour before dawn. Her face tipped upward and he was glad he didn't need to breathe as his body stilled at the sight. She was beautiful, truly. He knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life, the way the moon shone down on her skin and the stars reflected in her eyes.

Maybe he would remember it as the moment he was finally able to let her go….

"I should probably leave soon, you know."

"Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "It's time, really."

"I never did think that this sort of life suited you. You were always too…yeah. This place was always too ugly for you, I think. Too full of death."

She straightened and took a step towards him.

"Too what?"

He frowned. "Huh?"

"What were you going to say? Too old to start learning maybe?"

"Twenty-one is hardly too old, Shiara."

"But you and Hope have been training since you were babies."

He chuckled. "And you haven't? You think I never noticed you going off and training on your own? Everyone knows."

She smiled sadly, caught in the truth and he wondered if she ever noticed how much he saw in her. How he watched the way her smile would sometimes die as she watched everyone. How she would look out the window wistfully and drag her feet as she walked out the door to her schooling in the wide world outside of the Institute. He wondered if she ever realized that he knew how apart and lonely she felt behind all the humor and bravada. How he knew exactly what it was like to feel different from everyone around you.

"You didn't answer, you know," she murmured, looking up at him, reminding them both once again at how tall he had gotten.

"You really want to know?"

"Yep."

"I think you are too beautiful for all this, Shiara. I think you are pure and perfect and don't deserve to have a life full of death."

"And I think you have a highly glamorized view of me, Michael."

He shrugged. "Maybe. I still think you got too much of your mother in you to want to commit to this sort of lifestyle when you have nothing to hold you to it. I think you were made for music and laughter and everything wonderful." He chuckled sadly. "You could be like her you know. A professional. You are good enough."

"What makes you think that I have nothing to hold me here?"

He frowned, looking down at her in wary curiosity.

"I don't mean your parents. Nice as they are, and I do love them, they aren't reason enough for you to stay in a world like this."

"What if I have a better reason? What if I have some_one_ keeping me here?"

He looked away with a sigh. "You mean Hope. I know you look at her as a little sister and you want to protect her but….You know that staying here will mean giving up anything you want for your own life, right?"

She turned away from him, looking up at the stars again. Something in her stance made him still, his absolute attention focused on her.

"You know, a long time ago, when I first realized that you were a vampire and Hope was a vampire hunter in training…I asked myself a question."

"And what was that?"

"I asked myself, if it came down to it, and the world went mad, and you two suddenly found yourselves on opposite sides of the fight…who did I want to win?"

"And?"

Neither moved for a moment, all energy and attention focused on the answer that had yet to leave her lips. She turned her head down and looked at him, laughter and sad understanding in her eyes.

"And it was you."

He jerked slightly, shocked as she turned her self fully to him and took the step that would close the distance between them.

"Now what do you think of that?"

A thought crossed his mind as he stared down at her, unable to quite trust the reality of what was happening to him.

"_At times like that, there are just moments when you know what you want and there is no rationality behind it, you simply want it. You have no choice. The only choice is what you do next."_

With a shrug and a smile, he decided what to do next.

He kissed her.

* * *

AN: This is actually all supposed to be in one night. A day in the life...sorta. Didn't end up quite seeming like that. And this went a bit astray from original intentions but not far so I'm happy with it. I think it actually turned out better...maybe.

And this was my original intention from chapter...7? or something when Aidan first mentions he has a daughter. They were created, in essence for each other.

But they aren't done. By far.

Hope you like and approve though.

Also, per request, I put up a quick Who's Who of Life Sentence etc. characters for those who might be lost on my profile.

Til next time.


	28. ‘what does conquered mean?’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone who left a review last time. All of you. Every one of them made me grin idiotically.

* * *

prompt: look over there

'**what does conquered mean?'**

Secrets have a way of being found out. Some are almost instantaneously revealed while others take thousands of years to be fully understood. Some are carried to the grave and only discovered there while others stay secret only as long as the desire to have secrecy can overwhelm the desire to tell.

And when the people keeping the secret want nothing more than to tell, it doesn't usually take long.

No matter how hard they try.

**~x~**

"You know, I feel like a school girl hiding her crush from her friends."

He rolled his eyes, ducking down to give her another quick kiss before detaching from the shadows of the hallway.

"It was your idea to keep this secret. I'm perfectly willing to let everyone know that I have an unhealthy obsession with you."

A chuckle burst from her as they walked the distance down the empty corridor at a companionable distance from each other, lest someone notice.

"As romantic as that sounds, I'm not sure my mother wouldn't try to kill you at the thought. Or my father really. Not sure where he would stand on that subject. Either way, I'm sure Mam has picked up enough to be able to make a credible attempt at it."

"If you insist."

"You don't mind?" she asked, voice hesitant.

"I'm a seventeen year old boy making out with a twenty-one year old woman. In secret. In darkened hallways. This definitely goes into that category of 'really effing hot.'"

"Glad to know I'm helping you with your Mrs. Robinson fantasies."

"More like the French Tutor scenario."

"Pervert."

"Thank you."

**~x~**

It was strange for her, this sudden clandestine relationship. For years, she hadn't been quite able to name the strange fascination she had with Michael. Unlike a brother but truer in her affections than any other, she was at a loss. She had no other close relationship with a boy so she hadn't been able to compare it to her other feelings. The boys had chased, she had ignored and that had been the end of it.

Perhaps, that should have been her first clue.

She had known, somewhere along the way, that the idea of him dying by the hands of Hope gave her true, physical, grief. But her rational mind had told her that that could just as well be attributed to the loss of a family member or true sorrow at how Hope would feel at the situation. Random musings for the mind were fodder for emotional turmoil and so, after time, she had stopped thinking about it.

And then, one day, she thought of it again, years later and approached her far more experienced (and truly demented) father. His answer had been so simple. The truth had been staring her in the face all along and she had refused to see it.

She would break down if her eternal question answered in Hope's death. But…if it were Michael…she would just die right along with him. She had just been refusing to admit that since she had always sworn she would retain loyalty to her little sister no matter what.

Funny how the heart plays tricks on itself.

**~x~**

"You know, I didn't even really consider you as an available boy until fairly recently."

He looked at her blankly.

"Or really a boy at all," she continued, head tilted to one side as she played the piano thoughtlessly.

"Ouch. Way to pull a man down a peg, Red."

"Oh, I always thought you were handsome, so shut it. It's just…you were never really an option."

He shrugged, turning one of the pegs slightly on his violin.

"Can't say I thought much differently."

"Really?"

"Yep. You were always special to me. Unattainable and not to be thought of that way. Helped that you were always lording it over me that you were four years older. And you were unbelievably attractive. Regardless of what other girls may think, I knew _you_ still thought of me as a younger man."

"You certainly don't _look_ younger. It's been years since I've really thought of you that way you know."

"Nice knowledge to have. Hate to think I'd turned you into a true pervert."

"You look and (try to) act older than me most days. Hard not to just resign myself to the fact that you have freakish physiology."

"Why thank you," he murmured bringing the instrument to his chin and caressing a note from the strings.

"What changed?"

"It was you."

"What do you mean?"

He lowered the instrument and looked at her with soft eyes.

"You inspired the bloodlust in me."

She frowned. "Not entirely sure that is something I wanted to know."

With a grin, he stood up and approached her slowly, laughing softly at the way she stiffened slightly at his nearness.

"I've been raised on prepackaged blood. And while that might sound repugnant to a true vampire, or anyone who has to listen to my father complain, I never really cared. You can't miss what you don't know."

He shrugged and leaned over to brush her bare shoulder with his lips.

"And then one day I realized I was restless. Every time I was with you and Hope I came away feeling…unsatisfied. Wanting. I had no idea why, not used to it." He chuckled. "No basis of comparison."

She moved her head slightly to the side, allowing him access even as her breath hitched. He could almost feel her subtle fear and anxiousness. Her hesitation mixed with excitement. Suddenly, he understood how his father had gone mental the way he had.

"And then, one day, I walked past this room and I saw you. Playing in that passionate way you did. Beethoven I think. And you had your neck exposed, just like you do now."

He dropped a kiss on her flesh before moving his lips to whisper into her ear.

"In that moment I wanted nothing more than to drink of you. To take you and make you mine."

"O-oh really?" she breathed.

"Mmhmm."

"Pity you didn't act then."

He laughed against her neck before straightening and stepping away, aware that someone could walk in at any moment.

"What can I say, I have a feeling that your parents would kill me if I did anything like that. At least…without your permission."

She grinned at him.

"We'll just have to see about that."

**~x~**

Strange and unsure as they still were about the new development between them, unable to give it a real name or cheapen it with strange verbal description, they had no qualms reveling in the beauty of it. Like lovers in an affair, they couldn't resist taking every opportunity to caress the other or corner each other in darkened hallways, backs pressed against walls, hands grasping for flesh.

Which led to the inevitable.

**~x~**

They broke apart, breath stolen from them as they looked at the imposing figure at the end of the hall only a few feet away. No one moved, the scene struck still as a photograph. And then, another figure joined the other, a petite woman with a ready grin. Her blue eyes surveyed the scene before her lips curved up at one side.

"You should be more careful, Michael, Shiara. If you want to keep it a secret from the rest of them, you should avoid main walkways."

They nodded silently, struck dumb still at the strangeness of finally being caught out.

"The woods in the back are good for secret…meetings," his father added with a suggestive grin earning him a quick hit from his mother.

And then, without another word, the couple departed, leaving the two children to stare after them.

**~x~**

The second time, several months later, was slightly more…eventful.

**~x~**

_Wham!_

He winced from the blow, stumbling backwards several feet before giving up and letting himself fall to the ground. Rationality told him that it would make her feel better and avoid the necessity of a following blow.

Whatever else, Hope could deal some serious damage.

"That was for not telling me."

She turned and looked over to Shiara who was staring with an expression of mingled fear, shock and amusement.

"You…you I won't hit. You've been too good a sister for that and I think you deserve happiness."

"I think you just wanted to hit him for snogging me after pretending that you didn't have a crush on him for all those years."

The blonde shrugged.

"Probably."

"Are you going to say anything to anyone?"

Hope glared at her. "Don't make me reconsider the whole not hitting you thing."  
"Thanks."

"Can I get up now?"

"…If you must."

**~x~**

"You keep smoking like that and I'll take up the habit. And then probably die of lung cancer from twice the exposure."

"Not funny," he muttered, flicking his ashes over the low wall of the balcony.

"I suppose not," she agreed, leaning on the wall next to him and tilting her face to look up at the stars. "I can't imagine what that is like. I've tried, you know, but I still can't quite do it."

"What?"

"What knowing that everyone around you with a pulse will be dead while you are left behind."

He shrugged. "It's not something I think about. If I didn't I'd go mental."

"Like your father?"

"I think he was born that way actually. Besides, I know he doesn't think about it either. As old as Mum is, he is still hundreds of years older. He's probably lost so many more people than we can even imagine. And, despite joyful homicidal tendencies, he still seems to be sane enough."

She turned to look at him in disbelief before bursting into laughter.

"I'm going to tell him you said that."

He chuckled before taking another long drag of my cigarettes.

"My parents really like you, you know."  
"Have to say I reciprocate that."

"That's good. It'll help if you make the choice."

She frowned. "What choice?"

He blew out the smoke into a great cloud that slowly dissipated into the night air before turning to face her.

"If you make the choice to know what its like to watch everyone you love die. If you make the choice to forsake the company of normal people and give into the insanity of night. If you make the choice to forsake any other man you could even dream of meeting –"

"Had to throw that one in there didn't you?"

"I'm possessive."

"Fair enough."

"- and choose to spend as far into eternity as we can go. Together."

She grinned.

"You are kinda dumb, you know that? Cute, but dumb."

He rolled his eyes. "There go my attempts at being a romantic."

"Scary version of romantic. All that death."

His humor died a little as he looked at her. "I want you to be absolutely certain."

She grinned and plucked the cigarette from his fingers, tossing it carelessly to the side.

"I am."

**~x~**

The room was absolutely silent. Everyone held still as the two walked into the room, purpose in their posture and hope in their eyes. Everyone held silent as they looked at them and tension filled the air.

As the two approached, hands held and fingers laced.

"We need to talk."

* * *

AN: FF.N keeps trying to eat my formatting. VERY annoying. I actually started this TWICE and gave up both times until finally, a couple hours ago, I was able to sit down and get it working in the right direction. And, funnily enough, it managed to incorporate all three approaches I tried. Love when that happens.

As you can tell, there will be more. It might not actually be tomorrow, since I'd like to give it some proper stewing, but I'm not entirely sure what else I'd post tomorrow anyway. Feel free to request anything that takes your fancy.

Again, thank you for showing a vested interest in these characters. Nothing could be more awesome and nothing else makes all this mental harddrive failure more worth while than knowing that people are enjoying this.

Til next time.


	29. ‘they will be magnificent’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To E.S. Posthumus for their rendition of Moonlight Sonata. Wow....and you know all the wonderful people who review these chapters everyday.

* * *

**'they will be magnificent'**

**-**

**-  
**

They were a striking couple. Her blue corseted dress displayed her figure to perfection and set off the sparkling color of her eyes while his grey suit showed off his form to best advantage. That alone might have drawn the attentions of the people surrounding them in the crowded ballroom, but their dancing was truly captivating.

As if attuned to every movement of the other, they moved in perfect harmony. Each turn and twirl was executed flawlessly and each step was made with the grace of a true expert. They were a well suited pair and many began to slow in their own steps so they might watch them. Effortless and graceful, the two stood in a world of their own, conversing with ease and leaving others to wonder at what might be said that would cause the sweet lady to let out such sweet laughter.

Which proves that sometimes one should let images be and not delve into reality.

Cause dirty vampire jokes are not for the weak.

--

"Why is it that you only bring out these sorts of jokes when we are at Court, Master?" she chuckled.

He grinned down at her, appreciating the view that many men would kill to have.

"Because pomp and circumstance is really all a joke in the end. If I were to rule, you wouldn't see something like this inside of my country. Let them have gatherings on their own. Pretending you care enough to show up and mingle with those beneath you is only a show of weakness."

She rolled her eyes. "I think we all know your tastes in political gatherings, Master. Besides, Her Majesty is only a figurehead. It is nice of her to come out and dance with the rest of them. She is still fairly young after all."

He shrugged. "It is still a foolish use of state funds."

Deciding it would perhaps be a good idea to divert the conversation before he started going on about his exploits, she darted her eyes around the room, stopping when the found Elliot and Winter dancing together on the far side of the floor.

"It is nice to see them getting a night off. The freaks are on the rise again," she murmured sadly.

"It is their duty and they are well prepared for it." He glanced over them and allowed his mouth to curve up at one side. "I do agree that they should get a chance to enjoy themselves though. They are both impressive in their efforts. True prizes of the Hellsing line."

"Should I tell them you said that?"

He shrugged. "If you must."

They danced in silence for a moment before the song ended and she excused herself outside to the night air. He followed, curious at her sudden change in mood. The two stood on the terrace for a few minutes, basking in the glory of the full moon, before at last he spoke.

"Something is bothering you."

She shrugged lightly. "Just a stray thought."

He nodded but the silence stretched out further until at last he sighed and stepped up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist to press the length of her against him entirely.

"Speak or I will force you to."

Chuckling, she looked up at him, eyes full of mischief. "I'd like to see your efforts."

"You will if you don't tell me why you continue to be morose," he growled, unhappy with her attitude. It was the rule that she be starlight and smiles while he was the moody bastard. At least that had been Integra's thoughts on the matter and he found himself quite willing to agree.

She sighed, humor draining from her. He felt her shoulders sag and her weight shift towards him. The truth would emerge.

"They are getting older."

"They usually do," he smirked. "The alternative is for them to die."

"And one day they will," she agreed sadly.

"You knew this, police-girl. Why is it suddenly bothering you?"

She shrugged. "I can't say, really." She paused, eyes staring unfocused into the night sky. "Maybe it's because its really hitting me for the first time."

He frowned but stayed silent. She would explain without prompting, she always did. If she was going to give any explanation at all, he added mentally.

"I watched Integra grow older day by day. And it was strange but still…she was alive and I was and we were contemporaries. She had a sense of humor about her age and my lack thereof. When she died it was horrifying but expected. And then…we slept."

She turned in his arms, laying her head against his chest and clutching his clothes with her fingers like a worried child.

"I knew when I woke that they, too, would one day die and I would watch it…but it's different. Knowing it is going to happen and watching it is different. It's another generation. And Hope will grow up and then die. Generation after generation, I will watch her children be born and grow old and die."

"They are hardly ancient yet," he commented wryly.

"I know, but they will be. And we will still be as we are now. I knew it all along it is just…strange to see it." She smiled against his chest. "You'd think I'd be used to it already. Everyone else has died."

"Death is never something you can completely get used to, Seras. It is either something you ignore or something you accept. You can ignore the death of those you do not know and you can accept the death of those you do. It will always be a foreign idea that those you spent years living along side will one day be gone forever. You will always have moments, years and centuries later, where you wonder what someone might have said on a matter."

"I'll always wonder what Integra would have said if she'd known that Hope grew into such a girly girl?"

He chuckled softly. "Precisely."

"And one day I'll wonder what Elliot and Winter would have done and then Hope…." She trailed off with a sigh.

Words unspoken rang in their heads as the noise from the ballroom echoed in a quite roar behind them. They were something apart from everything around them, not truly of life and not truly of death. In that moment, he wondered if she regretted once more not having the choice to decide over the life she now lead as Michael was able to give his selected bride. To truly decide and not be given the single moment to come to such a great decision. Circumstances were different and he knew that if given the time, she might have chosen to stay behind, to die as a human.

It was a choice he found himself glad that he had been unable to give her.

"Don't ever leave me, Alucard."

He chuckled softly. "What if I must? Would you wait for me as you did before?"

"No."

He frowned, looking down at her as she turned her head to grin up at him.

"I'd come find you."

Laughter echoed out into the night as he drew her by the hand and led her back into the golden glow of the ballroom. They were immediately greeted by their human companions, anxious to leave the up tight atmosphere of the ball. Grinning, she followed the other two women to gather their coats and bags and he stared after her with an appreciative smile.

The current leaders of Hellsing were truly great specimens of man. They were calculating and strong and willing to do whatever it took. Their daughter was much like them and much like Integra. She would probably be better than both. The line of the family would continue, striving to be greater and greater still. Even as a captive, it was a magnificent thing to behold, the evolution of family, of man.

His draculina was too young still to see it as such. She was still too wrapped up in the individual loss and, perhaps, would always be. Women were like that. But, unlike he himself, she would do everything to see that each of them were given all they needed to be the greatest they could be. She had the strange ability to pull people together and make them stronger without having to use fear or persuasion.

Unwilling though he might be to reveal exactly why he made the choice to take her for his own, he knew he would never regret it. She was truly magnificent. And she was his.

"Are you going to stand there all night, Dandy Dragon Lord, or are you going to go after your lady before one of those idiots manages to trap her into a dance?"

"She is mine, little Irishman. I will always go to claim her."

* * *

AN: Rather short, I know. And kinda pointless. But, I felt I had been ignoring my favorite couple and wanted to give them some time. That and, despite everything, I think Seras is going to need further time to adjust tot he whole, they will be dead one day, thing. It is a rather strange thought to think of, if you really actually ponder it. Hope you liked it all the same.

Back to Michael and Shiara on Monday. In which everyone gets to put in their two cents.

Also, the end is nigh! Anyone who has any sort of requests (even if it requires going backwards in timeline) speak now or be forced to send me PM's begging a return to the craziness once I have washed my hands of this weirdness.

Except for the little jaunt into Japan. That is already coming. I promise.

Til next time.


	30. ‘…if you wish’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To phoenix521, who has been a truly awesome reviewer ^_^

Note: Today's story is brought to you by the dreaded 11 hour shift! Inciting boredom and head-to-desk banging at an office near you!

* * *

prompt: kiss

'…**if you wish'**

"Are you sure about this?"

"Stop asking me that."

"I need you to be sure."

"Even if I'm not, I would _never_ blame you for it."

"That's what you say now."

**~x~**

Aidan was the first to speak, shattering the silence that had settled after his daughter's quiet statement. They had all sat there staring at the entwined hands of the two youths. A million and one thoughts had raced through his mind at the sight but only one thing forced its way to his lips in that heavy, painful silence.

"You're kidding."

"In point of fact, Da, no."

A harsh snort shook his body as he dragged his gaze from his daughter to his wife. Her eyes were wide and her skin pale. To coin the phrase, she looked as if she had seen a ghost. And perhaps she had and still was. The ghost of her daughter.

**~x~**

"Will it hurt?"

"Believe it or not, Red, I've never done this before. And I've definitely not been on the receiving end."

"I asked your Mam. She said it didn't. Said that it felt nice."

"Could be. Though, I _do_ have to point out that she was nearly dead at the time."

"You are not being very comforting, 'Chael."

"I'm not trying to be comforting. I'm trying to prepare you."

"Comfort is preparing."

"No, it's lying."

**~x~**

She couldn't honestly say that she hated her life at Hellsing. She had grown fond of the massive building and the rather unusual sort of people that lived there. She had grown to love Seras as a weird mixture of mentor, sister and friend. She had already loved Winter and Elliot and enjoyed being able to see them on a daily basis, to experience a home life with a family that she loved. To watch her daughter grow up with children close to her.

But she had always, _always_, wanted to keep Shiara separate from all of it.

She had insisted for years that she attend school outside of the Institute, that she go out with whatever friends she could make there as often as possible. She had gladly given in when the girl seemed uncertain for her University degree, changing her major every few minutes. Whatever it took to get her into a normal life.

All for nothing.

For the first time in so many years, she cried.

**~x~**

"…I'm afraid."

"Good. Now I can seriously ask you if you are really sure you want to do this."

"…"

**~x~**

Winter stared. She could count the number of time she'd seen Maureen cry on one hand and most of that had been during her pregnancy. Still, she couldn't really blame her. When she had realized that her own daughter was crushing pretty hard on the vampire child, she had felt the same wash of uneasiness. It was one thing to understand that some vampires were different, and even more to feel as if the ones in her own home were like family.

It was something else for your child to become one.

And so she stared as her oldest friend cried into her hands. She couldn't muster the strength to stand and go comfort her. She couldn't bring herself to murmur comforting words or attempt to talk sense and reason into her. She couldn't because she stared and felt the guilt rise up in her.

Guilt born from relief that it was Maureen's daughter and not her own.

**~x~**

"You are kind of a bastard, you know."

"Technically true since I'm fairly sure that my parents have never officially married."

"So you are fully a bastard. Good to know."

"You need to make the decision, Shiara."

"But, I already made it."

"You need to make it again."

**~x~**

Elliot sighed and wished not for the thousandth time that he smoked. Or at least had some whiskey at hand. In fact, that seemed to him like a glorious idea. Crossing the room to the liquor cabinet, he pulled out the whiskey and several glasses and poured a round for everyone.

"Sit down," he ordered the two supplicants. "And for God's sake, Shiara, give your mother a hug."

She nodded, rushing over to give her mother a comforting hug before separating as he shoved a glass of whiskey into both women's hands.

"Now, both of you, take a drink. After you do that, breathe for a few seconds and then we'll talk like the rational adults we pretend to be."

The nodded, following his orders. He turned his attention to Aidan and gave him another of the glasses, unable to hide his smile as the older man knocked back the entire glass in one go.

It was going to be an interesting night.

**~x~**

"What happens if I change my mind and say no?"

"Well, if you do it after we go through with this, I laugh and say I told you so and then probably will get beat upside my head for being a jackass."

"Very true. And if I decide now?"

"Well, then your parents call you a tease and yell at you for causing the whole upset."

"And what about you?"

"…I once more resign myself to watching you die one day."

**~x~**

Hope could do nothing but watch in silence as her father took charge of the situation. She could tell herself over and over in her mind that she had seen it coming. She had known that this would happen one day, that they would come asking for permission to change Shiara.

But she knew she was lying.

Part of her had always expected it to be fleeting. Or that her big sister would choose to live her life as a human, accepting old age and an immortally young lover. She would choose to live her life out with Hope and they would be as they had always been, just older.

But…this…this would change everything. Sure, they would still in all probability live out the rest of her life at Hellsing, but they wouldn't be the same. She would age slowly while they stayed the same age forever. She would have children and raise them and she would die and they would go on. It would stop being about the three of them as a single unit and start being about her and them.

They were leaving her behind.

**~x~**

"I don't want to leave you behind."

"And I refuse to force you to stay."

**~x~**

In the corner of the room, quiet but approving, were the two vampires. She sat perched on the arm of his chair and he rested a hand on her back, watching the events unfold with a soft smile belied by the intense look in his eyes.

In this, they would not be permitted to speak unless asked. Anything they said would be taken as bias. Any movement they made would be questioned. Any advice given would be taken wrong. They were to observe and not speak. It was an order silently given as their master passed out intoxicants.

But, under his hand, his bride's back was stiff, shaking slightly with excitement. He had no doubt that she had things to say if no one else would. She would stand up for her son's happiness for the both of them. Their Hellsing master might order them silent, but she was a mother first.

Her bindings had never been strong enough to hold her back.

**~x~**

"What's it like?"

"You keep asking me unusually silly questions. I was born this way, Red. I have no idea what the change is like."

"Excuses, excuses."

"Didn't you talk to my mother?"

"For hours."

"And she didn't answer your questions?"

"She did. That doesn't make this any easier."

**~x~**

"How long as this been going on, might I ask?"

"A little over a year, Da. Since right after my 21st."

He sighed. "Then I'm going to assume that nothing I say will make any difference."

She shook her head. "It will make a difference."

"But it won't change your mind."

"…No."

**~x~**

"I love you."

"Glad to hear it. That is still not an answer."

"Yes. It is."

**~x~**

Elliot sat down and frowned at the two. Once more, it washed over him that while he was far from being the oldest person in the room or the closest to the matter, he still, in some ways, had the final word. He was Hellsing. He was there to run an Institute that's sole purpose was to rid the world of vampire scum. He had hundreds of people under his command, training at that very moment to do those very deeds.

And here was his niece, tears in her eyes, asking if she could become one.

"You know, if I were to hold to the letter of the Oath I took when I took over the reigns of this place, my answer would be immediate and final."

She stiffened, eyes wide and breath heavy. Beside her, her mother perked up, looking up from the drink in her hands. The tears had faded but the desolation still held on, slipping a little at his tired words. He sighed, hating to see her pain but knowing what his final decision would be.

"But, if I held to that Oath, I would have insisted on Michael's termination at birth."

Aidan rolled his eyes.

"As if _that_ were gonna happen."

"All the same, thanks, on my part," Michael interjected humbly.

Elliot shrugged. He turned to Aidan and Maureen with a sympathetic frown.

"I think that this is all up to the four of you. If you like, the rest of us can leave you alone while you discuss."

"I beg to differ," a voice broke in from the formerly silent corner.

He turned, frowning, to look at Seras who was staring back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, about what?"

"I will refrain from commenting that it is _our_ son who is involved her as well and go straight to the point and saying that you are wrong to dismiss it."

"I wasn't dismissing it, Seras," he muttered, blushing slightly at his obvious overlooking of the vampire couple. "I just thought it would be best for them to work it out themselves. We don't need to interfere."

"Every person in this room will be affected by this decision, including, not in the least part your daughter."

**~x~**

"Do you think I'll be like some of those other monsters and forget everyone I love and live only for the bloodlust?"

"No."

"Because you'll be there to stop me?"

"Because you're strong."

**~x~**

"Why this?"

Everyone turned to look at Maureen who was staring at her daughter. When Shiara didn't respond she asked again.

"Why this? Why choose this life when I tried so hard to give you the option of something else? Why choose a life commited to death when you can live any life that you choose?"

Her daughter took a deep breath and knelt in front of her and her father.

"Mam, Da, I'm sorry. I know this is not what you wanted. I know that you had to listen to the horror stories for years, Mam, and you, Da, had to see what happened here everyday. I understand that Uncle Elliot and Aunt Winter's parents were killed by vampires and for all that you like Seras and tolerate Alucard, you still hate vampires."

She paused swallowing hard.

"But…I love him. And it's not a life that has to be filled with death. It can be a life of art and beauty. Look at Aunt Seras. How many instruments has she learned to play? How many languages does Uncle Alucard speak? How much do they simply just _know_ from being alive for so long?"

"But they _aren't_ alive, Shiara!" Maureen argued loudly. "They are dead! They have been for far longer than any of us have been alive. And it's not like they are exactly _normal_ are they?"

She paused, turning her eye to Seras and Alucard with a wince.

"No offense."

"We can hardly argue," Alucard answered amicably.

"And if you stayed here, your role would be to kill. You would have a life dedicated to killing your own kind."

Her daughter's shoulders sagged, halted by the undeniable truth in her words. For all that she understood the absolute necessity of Hellsing and for all her inate skill and ability to strategize, she found the idea of spending day after day killing was…horrific.

The room grew quiet again at the words. No one could argue with them. Maureen alone had been left untainted by the blood that had given form to her generation. Death was their daily bread. They also knew full well that, if given the chance, they might have chosen a life entirely different. It was not a happy life to look forward to.

"Well," a thoughtful voice broke into the silence, "not necessarily."

**~x~**

"I wonder what dying is like."

"You aren't truly dying. From what mum says, it is more like sleep."

"I'll still wake up dead."

"Yes, but you'll wake up."

**~x~**

"Elliot, why have you never put a binding on my son?"

The blonde man blinked, thrown somewhat off kilter by the sudden question.

"Well," he answered hesitantly as she stood up and approached the bulk of the group, "because I didn't think I needed to."

"So you don't think that he is going to go mad and start killing everyone? There is, after all, genetic presedent."

His eyes darted over to Alucard who grinned widely.

"I honestly can say that I don't see that happening," Elliot replied, eyeing the grinning vampire with resignation before turning his focus back to Seras. "He is a good boy,…man. We all think so."

"Do you see any reason for _ever_ putting one on him?"

"Not really, no."

"Then do you see any reason why you would, if she pursued that course, you would have to put a binding on Shiara?"

Realizing at last where her thoughts were going, he turned to face the young woman who had been raised as his neice. She stared up at him, intelligence, hope and worry lighting her eyes. He still remembered the day she was born. She had come into the world eyes open wide and immediately judging her surroundings and had never stopped since. She was in many ways a far better judge of character and more logical than his own child. He had watched her grow through the years with pride, a pride that would never vanish.

"…No."

"Well then, Maureen," she began, crouching down to look at the distraught woman. "What would you give to live a life unhindered by age or infirmity, able to go anywhere you choose and do anything you take a mind to?"

"I…," she began before sighing. "A lot. I'd give a lot."

"Do you think that Michael would ever harm Shiara?"

Quickly, she shook her head. "No. I know he would never hurt any of us."

"Are you certain? I won't hesitate to remind you that he has been out on missions with us. He is just as fierce a fighter as Alucard or I. There is a violence in him that is as much part of his nature as the sarcasm everyone in this building seems to be plagued with."

Turning her green eyes to the boy in question, Maureen looked at him a long while before shaking her head.

"He'd never hurt her. And he'd kill anyone who tried to."

"So would we in point of fact," Seras grinned.

"But…she's my baby! It's easy for you to come to terms with this, Seras! Your son is already a vampire. He's more or less dead or something else that is entirely confusing. Are you telling me you can't understand what it is to fear that she may not wake up? Even if she does, that she will die and wake up as something else?"

She broke down crying again.

"I know that you are a truly wonderful person for all that you are a vampire, Seras, but how many of your kind are there that can say the same thing? Could you, in my place, look at your child and say that it is okay for them to become what the world calls a monster?"

**~x~**

"Are _you_ sure?"

"About getting to taste your delectable self? Very. I've been waiting for years, I might remind you."

"Are you sure that you will still love me if I'm a vampire? That you won't get tired of me after a few decades?"

"Are you sure that _you_ won't get tired of me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then don't ask stupid questions."

"A simple yes would have sufficed."

**~x~**

"Well," Aidan sighed. "You have my consent."

"What?" Maureen blinked, startled.

"It's her life Maureen. Sure there are rat bastards out there who go around trying to create some foolish ghoul army, but there are rat bastards of the human race that do the same thing. The Nazi's for one."

"Two hundred years later and people still talk about that," Alucard muttered humorously. "Fascinating."

"People still talk about you, too, Evil Ancient Overlord. And that is more or less my point, Maureen. This bastard was still human when he did all that. It doesn't take being a vampire to earn the title of monster."

"Still…," Maureen argued hesitantly.

"And I don't think our girl is _ever_ going to warrant that title. She has too much of you in her."

"T-thanks, Da," Shiara grinned.

"Welcome. So, I figure it is her life, or death…whatever. She will still be our daughter. She'll just live a lot longer and lose her freckles."

"It can't be that simple, Aidan!" Maureen snapped. "What about a family? After we're gone who will she have? It's not like she'll be able to have children! Well…probably. You are a man, aren't you supposed to be obsessed with continuing the family line or something?"  
"Having a daughter that will live for a few hundred years sounds like all the immortality my family line needs, thank you. Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop deserving it!"

**~x~**

"Alright. I'm ready."

"If you are sure…."

"I am."

**~x~**

The tension in the room suddenly broken, Shiara burst into laughter for the first time in what felt like weeks. The joyful sound drew her parents' attention and her mother's face lost its anger as she looked on. Slowly, her shoulders relaxed and a look of resignation settled onto her features.

"I really can't stop you, can I?'

Sobering abruptly, her daughter shook her head.

"No, Mam. You can't. I've already made this decision and I've spent the last year making it."

She sighed heavily and took another sip of her whiskey.

"Fine. I don't like it but…fine."

"Thank you!"

The next few minutes passed in a flurry of hugs from one parent to the next as Shiara hugged every available adult in the room, including a highly amused Alucard while Michael shook hands and gave his quiet apologies to his future mother-in-law of sorts. Excited, she turned to Hope only to draw up short at the expression in the girl's eyes.

Without a word, the future Hellsing turned on her heel and left the room.

**~x~**

"I love you, Michael."

"Me too."

"Even if the entire world hates you."

"Even if the entire _universe_ does."

**~x~**

Her steps were quiet as she followed the younger girl from the room, half an ear still listening to Seras' assurances to her mother that she would have a family no matter what century. The hallway outside of the lively study was quiet, eerily so, and she felt nervous as she followed the shadow of the girl in the distance. Eventually, the shadow turned and walked out onto the terrace and into the night.

"I'm sorry, Hope. I know that you used to fancy him but I didn't think that it was that serious really…."

"It's not that, Shiara. We all know I wasn't that serious. Well, not really. It is a bit unflattering to think that I was compared unfavorably to an older woman but I'm sure my ego will recover."

"Then, what is it?"

Hope turned to look at her, anger and sorrow shining bright in her clear blue eyes.

"You are leaving me behind. You always promised me that you wouldn't go anywhere while I still needed you."

"But, I'm not going anywhere. I mean, sure, Auntie Seras said all that about going anywhere, but I'm staying right here until you don't need me anymore, even if that means staying til you are long gone."

"You are still leaving. You are going to be different. You won't be my sister anymore. You'll be _his_ wife. You'll always think of him before me."

Shiara sighed. "As far as any of them have told me, I won't be any different than I am now. And as for that…Hope, even if it wasn't Michael it would have been someone. Did you expect me to stay single forever?"

"No…I mean…yes and no. I thought you'd get married but not for years. Not until after I had figured everything out. And I didn't think you'd end up with him. It's twice the loss! I'm losing my sister to my brother!"

"As icky and incestual as that sounds, you aren't losing either of us. You will still be our sister. His _older_ sister in point of fact."

"I know, it's just…." She stopped herself short and sank to the ground, back against the wall. "Oh, Shiara, I just don't want to be the only one growing old. I don't want to be alone while the two of you are together forever."

She laughed slightly, wiping a tear from her eye before it could break loose and give actuality to the idea that she was crying.

"All I can keep thinking is that one day, hundreds of years from now, you two will still be alive and together while I'll be dead and gone. You will move on and have an entire life that has nothing to do with me. _Most_ of your life will have nothing to do with me. I'll be left behind forever."

Shiara's heart clenched at the thought and she walked over to sit beside her friend and sister.

"I hate it, you know. I hate the idea of that happening. I hate the idea that I'll have to go on without you one day. That after you…I'll be missing you for the rest of my life and never be able to talk to you again."

"How do you know you'll still miss me? I imagine after a hundred years or so, you'll adjust."

"I think Seras still misses the people she grew up with. And I think Alucard misses people, too. He'd never admit it, I'm sure, but sometimes he gets a far away look in his eyes as he walks down the hallways."

"So you'll live forever and remember me forever?"

"Yep."

Laughing, Hope turned to look at Shiara.

"I guess I can live with that."

"Now we'll just have to find you a man to grow old with."

Eyes wide with horror, the younger girl shook her head.

"Don't you _dare_ let either of our mothers hear you say that. I am _not_ about to start going out on blind dates with loser men."

Shiara stood, pulling Hope to her feet, and the two returned to the house, laughter echoing in the night behind them.

**~x~**

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The light hurt her eyes a little, too bright even while she knew that they weren't that bright at all. There was an energy coursing through her that was foreign and strange. It made her want to get up and do impossible things. For the moment, though, she blinked at the light, trying to remember the dream she had been having.

A slight shift caught her attention and she turned her gaze to the man sitting on the edge of her bed. He was tall with dark hair and fair skin. A muscular build so familiar to another man she knew was finely encased in a charcoal grey suit, elegance marred by the top buttons of the shirt left undone. On his face, a smile was rapidly growing as his blue eyes shined down happily to hers.

"Michael."

"Sleeping beauty."

"Then…it worked?"

"There was never any doubt."

"So, I'm like you then."  
He nodded, grinning.

"Your mine now. Forever."

She grinned in return.

"Good."

* * *

AN: Whee! A more or less full length chapter for the first time in like forever! It helps that I had an entire weekend to think over exactly what I wanted to write. It went a little astray from orginal intentions. Somehow I pictured more arguing from all the above. But then Elliot was took over and started making sense...as did Seras. And Aidan was too amused to really be upset. (Am I beginning to sound schitzophrenic yet?)

I imagine there are many more backstage arguments about this from the previous star couple. I think that the idea of her only daughter becoming a vampire is a bit more than Maureen really wants to deal with but at the same time...only morons wouldn't have seen it coming. And she and Aidan are far from being morons.

Hope it satisfied. I have NO idea what tomorrow will bring so suggestions are more than welcome. I have Friday's chapter planned out but everything between is a bit questionable. That's me, knowing the end before knowing all of the middle. ^_^

Thank you as always for your kind words. They are happiness.

Til next time!


	31. ‘her dreams had been filled with visions

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone. You are simply MARVELOUS. ^_^

Note: It is a bit...meandering. But that was done (mostly) on purpose. Conversations do that.

* * *

prompt: pillage; violence (and other stuff i can't remember off the top of my head)

'**her dreams had been filled with visions'**

_She approached them, laughter echoing in her steps. He scrambled away from her franticly, eyes darting back and forth, everywhere, looking for an escape from the madwoman that was slowly crossing the distance between them. A gasp ripped from his throat when his attempts at escape were quickly halted by the wall he suddenly found behind him._

_"Nowhere left to run."_

_Eyes sparkling crimson, she stopped her trek only a step away from him and watched as he stared up at her. Fear accented his every quick breath and panic drove madness into his eyes. With aching slowness, she lowered herself, crouching down as if to talk to a child, and reached a hand to touch his cheek. He jerked violently to the side, knocking himself over and inciting a laugh from her. _

_"Don't worry. It'll only hurt while you are alive."_

_A grin broke over her features as her hand darted out to grip his neck._

_"Let's see how long we can make it last, shall we?"_

**~x~**

She woke up screaming. She often did.

Eyes frantically searching the room for anything to ground her and take her away from the visions of her slumber, she found someone entirely unexpected.

"Where's Michael?"

"Oh, he and his father are off doing something. I'd say male bonding but that term just kinda makes my head hurt when I think about applying it to them."

Seras grinned, standing up to walk over to her son's bride. She picked up a mug from the bedside table and held it up to Shiara, waiting patiently for her to sit upright in bed.

"Are they still at Hellsing or are they…?"

"I told them to get lost. You and I are going to have some bonding time of our own and we don't need them interfering." She chuckled softly. "Especially not from Alucard. He can be a pain in the ass when it comes to this vampire stuff."

Shiara stared down at the mug of warmed blood in her hand. Three months in and she was still occasionally weirded out by how incredibly appetizing the thought of drinking it was. She could look at it and logically analyze the liquid in her hands. It was platelets, blood cells – white and red – all in a stream of plasma. It was the liquid that kept human beings and every other creature on the planet alive. There was no creature that carried it that could survive its loss.

Her thoughts were clinical and scientific, an impartial judgement created from years of the best schools in the country. Someone had given this blood, either stranger or someone handy on base, and she was taking in a little of that person each time she took a sip. She was walking around with a little of that person's soul inside.

Gave the concept of giving blood an entirely new meaning.

"I promise, it's not poisoned."

She jumped slight, eyes wide as they looked at an amused Seras.

"Sorry, just…thoughts."

"I know. Drink up and get dressed."

"Are we going anywhere on this…bonding experience?"

The older woman sighed. "As much as I would like to have a night out in true age old girl bonding time, I have a feeling that a lot of what we have to say shouldn't be heard by normal people."

**~x~**

_Sharp nails rending flesh…blood dripping down pale skin…harsh laughter…chaos…limbs ripped from bodies…teeth ripping through skin…blood and violence…rage and desire…_

**~x~**

"You've been having dreams."

She looked over at Seras before looking back down at her feet and nodded. The trail was familiar, a winding route through the wooded area of the Hellsing lands.

"I had them too."

Startled, Shiara looked up quickly, tripping slightly on a branch.

"Really?"

"Well, they were probably a little different from the ones you are having," she chuckled lightly before sobering. "You talk in your sleep sometimes. Michael told me."

"Good to know."  
"Well, why don't you tell me what sort of dreams you've been having and we'll see if we can make them stop?"

Shiara frowned, walking in silence for a minute before taking a deep breath.

"I dream about killing people."

"Hopefully someone in politics."

Surprised laughter burst out from her and she smiled gratefully at her not-mother-in-law.

"Sadly, no."

"So, ordinary people you've never actually met. And probably very violently to, I imagine."

"…Yeah."

Seras nodded, gesturing to a stone bench. She turned her gaze up to the dotted stars that broke through the leafy overhang above them.

"We kinda lied, you know."  
Shiara frowned. "About what?"

"We pretended that you would still be completely and only you and really, that's not the case."

"Tell me _now _why don't you," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I had a hidden agenda," Seras grinned unabashedly.

"Oh?"

"We'll get back to that."

"Sneak."  
The older woman shrugged. "If you like. Still, I think the time for full honesty is at hand, don't you?"

"That would be nice, yes," Shiara agreed with a nod.

"You know, it never really occurred to me until you were trying to decide whether or not to become a vampire, but we're a violent bunch."

"No kidding."

A gamine grin snuck up on Seras' features and she bumped the younger woman with her shoulder.

"Hush. Mommy's lecturing."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I picked fights a lot when I was a kid. And not verbal fights, physical ones. They almost kicked me out of the orphanage."

Shiara blinked, realizing that she had never actually heard much of Seras' past. Everyone knew Alucard's, it was the stuff of legend, but Seras…she had never spoken much of herself.

"How old were you when you went to the orphanage? If you don't mind my asking."

"Oh, it's old news," Seras replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I was pretty young, my exact age is presently failing me but around six I want to say."

"What happened to your parents?"

"My father was a cop. He was a very good man and a good cop. And he'd made some enemies. One day some of them went after him at our home."

As she watched, Seras seemed to close in on herself, the memory overtaking her as if it had been the day before and close to two centuries before.

"My mum tried to keep me safe. She put me in a closet to hide me from the bad men. But the closet doors were slatted and I could still see everything. They killed both of them while I watched."

"My god," Shiara breathed. "What did you do?"

"Ah, see, that is the point I'm trying to make, I think." She looked at Shiara with the air of a teacher giving an exam. "What would you have done?"

"At six? I don't know," she answered thoughtfully. "It depends on how many there were. I might have tried attacking them but…I don't know. I'd probably hide, honestly. If they beat my Da, I'm fairly sure they would beat me."

Seras nodded, acknowledging her answer without judging.

"And see, that is precisely what I mean. You are a brilliant and very intelligent woman, Shiara. You are a good healthy mix of your parents without all the emotional trauma that set them on the paths that they followed. I'd say that while you do not condemn violence, it is also not your first recourse."

"True," she agreed with a shrug. "It's not what I'm best at. Well, it wasn't anyway. At this point I might be able to kick Da's ass."

"Probably," Seras agreed with a grin.

"But…what did _you_ do?"

"I attacked them with a fork."

"…A fork."

"It was handy," she shrugged.

"Did it work?"

She sighed. "Not really. I got one of them in the eye but there were three of them and they were much stronger than I was. They had me flying across the room and severely injured in seconds."

"Did they try to kill you?"

"Nope," Seras sighed bitterly. "They were too busy raping my mother's corpse."

"My God!"

"Indeed. But that is an entirely different matter. What is important in all this is not that story but the reaction you have to it…I guess." She paused for a moment, looking into the distance as if trying to reorder her thoughts. With a chuckle she shrugged. "Sometimes my thoughts need some forcible reordering. Back to the point though…."

Shiara grinned. It was moments like that when she remembered that Seras seemed like the nineteen-year-old girl her body indicated. It was a nice thought, to still have some aspects of herself that would still be _her_ no matter how old she got.

"The point is, Shiara, that you are not violent by nature. Alucard and I are. We don't view violence in _quite_ the same way, but it is a trait we share. It is also a trait that we passed on to Michael, though he tries (fairy successfully) to hide it."

She paused, tapping Shiara on the cheek lightly with her finger.

"You are more of a strategist I think. Violence if necessary."

"Yep."

"But now you are a vampire and vampires are hunters. We prey on the lesser mortals and destroy them completely through one means or another."

She shrugged lightly, stretching her arms out above her head.

"It's what we do and, though it took me a while to come to a firm understanding of that, it is something we must all accept."

"You think that's why I'm having the dreams?"

"I think that you don't go out on missions and you don't given into that subtle desire to kill because in your conscious mind, it doesn't exist. No matter what, your real personality will be the primary thing that guides you. But since your subconscious mind has no release, you have these dreams."

Shiara nodded. A sigh escaped her and she tilted her head back to look, unseeing, at the canopy above.

"So…to get rid of the dreams, I'll have to start killing."

"Probably."

"Charming."

Seras shrugged. "I'd say it's not as bad as you think but then again, when I was newly turned, that was probably the worst part for me…how much I _enjoyed_ the kill."

"Do you…still, um, enjoy it?"

Blonde hair shook free of a neat bun as the woman shook her head. Then she paused and thought before shrugging.

"Not really. Sometimes the bloodlust takes over and…well…yeah. It's hard to explain. It's also better when you are getting regular blood. I wasn't."

"Oh?"

Seras laughed. "I refused blood for…months. Wouldn't drink a drop." She cocked her head to the side for a moment, lips pursed. "Well, there _was_ that one drop Integra gave me…but that was all until Pip."

"Who was Pip?"

A sad chuckle resounded through the still night and Seras got to her feet.

"That is a different story."

**~x~**

"Do you think it'll get better, these dreams?"

"Probably," Seras offered with a shrug.

"You are very comforting, you know. About as much as your son."

"Comfort usually means telling lies. I've never been one much for telling lies. Not very good at it for one. And when you are constantly with someone who can sneak peak into your mind, it becomes rather useless."

"Yeah, the telepathy thing is weird."

"You'll become used to it."

"You know, you never told me what your hidden motives were."

Seras grinned, the happy expression making her seem even younger than usual, a strange contrast to the words that followed.

"I'm a mother. I wanted you for my son."

Shiara blinked. "That's it?"

"Well, more or less," she shrugged. "I knew it was going to happen eventually but…you know, I wanted it to happen _right_."

"Wait, what?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that your mother-in-law type person is psychic?"

Shiara frowned a little. "Well, yeah. But if you knew it was going to happen why didn't you say anything?"

Seras shrugged again. "Why spoil the ending?"

"Then…why bother convincing Mam and Da if it was going to happen anyway?"

"Well…first, there was no guarantee. Just the idea. Also…your family is part of you, even after they are gone. It's important that they understand you."

Shifting back in her chair, she looked at the blonde woman with thoughtful eyes.

"What else?"

"I didn't want him to wind up like his father," she murmured quietly after a minute. "He was alone for years and years. Maybe he was always alone. I can't tell you what his past might hold, I've only had glimpses but I know that there is a sadness in him…a bitterness…that will probably never heal. You can say there is probably one in me as well so, in that, we match."

"You match in a lot of ways."

Seras grinned. "That might almost be an insult." Her grin faltered and softened into a sad smile. "But Michael…for all that he's a vampire, he's been raised in a far more normal way than anyone else here. Well…Ethan was pretty normal." She grinned. "All the same, I wanted him to be happy. That's what every mother wants, isn't it?"

Shiara nodded, a small smile.

"Thank you for thinking I was right for that."

"You were always special. I saw that immediately."

She blushed but nodded. "So are you."

"Why thank you."

"Do…," Shiara began hesitantly. "Do you think I might ever have a child?"

"Well," she began thoughtfully, "I can't honestly say. No one is quite certain why _I_ had a baby, so I can't say what the conditions would be for you to have one. But," she offered, touching the younger woman's hand gently, "if you really want one, maybe it will happen. After all, Michael _was_ that miracle child and you are his fledgling."

"He is still pouting that I don't call him Master."

* * *

AN: Not entirely what I first envisioned but I'm happy enough with it. ...I complain like that a lot don't I? Well we all set standards higher for ourseleves than for others, right? *shrug* Funnily enough, when I first saw this prompt I was like "ALUCARD DESTROYS ALL!"

But not. The story didn't flow that way. Ah well.

I have room for one more suggestion. Tomorrow or Thursday I will be taking up a few of them and bundling them all into one and one big chapter. Friday's is already mostly written. So...yeah?

Thank you, as always, for the kind words and for taking time out of our day to read my scribblings and comment on them. Best of all things.

Til next time!

"Feel free to hit him."

"But, you really think?"

"I don't know. But I know that nothing is impossible. We are all proof of that."

Shiara grinned.

"That is a strangely ironic but comforting fact. Thank you."

"You're welcome."


	32. ‘once upon a time’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: *ahem* To Syrenity, my lovely beta, who wanted a wedding, to Metropolis Kid who gave me a fantastic idea which will be followed up on more in the next chapter, phoenix521 who wanted Alucard/Michael time and more Ethan/Sakura time and AngelReaper who wanted some Alucard/Seras love...I think I covered all bases...^_^

Note: And cutting this one in just under the wire, I hope it satisfies. I apologize in advance for any stray typos or grammatical errors. It is unbeta'd and not entirely proofread. It has been a trying night ...

* * *

'**once upon a time'**

"This is a nightmare."

"This is _your _fault."

"It is NOT!"

"Yes it is. Our traditions more or less say that you are married as soon as you make the commitment not to kill each other."

"Okay, fine. I wanted a wedding. _Sue_ me. It is _not_ my fault that the _Queen_ was invited _and_ decided to attend."

"Fair enough. That is probably mine."

"Wait, what? Why?"

"She's my godmother."

"What?"

"It was her condition for allowing me to be born."

"You know, suddenly I like her a lot more. Very twisted sense of humor under all that pomp and circumstance."

"Apparently."

"But…you are a _vampire_. Why do you even _have_ a godparent to begin with?"

"Had to cover all of those freak bases."

"Like getting married."

"Yep."

**~x~**

It was a beautiful affair. Decorated with an understated elegance and class, the Hellsing Institute had been transformed from cold brick into a grandiose manor home, resplendent in the finest flowers, silks and all amenities the over night guests might need. The normally dark hallways were bright and glowed with cleanliness and polish. It was truly magnificent.

Everyone at Hellsing hated it.

"How on God's green _Earth_ did this get so crazy?" Aidan complained loudly, poking his head out of the study just long enough to see that there were at least four people milling about in the hallway that he wanted to avoid.

"It could have something to do with the fact that we practically eloped with our wives," Elliot offered good-humoredly. "Now they get to have a chance of having a huge lavish wedding. Also, you have to factor in that there are a lot of crazy supposed nobles who want to see a vampire get married." He sighed. "It doesn't pay to irritate the nobility and it aggravates to accommodate them."

"If I have one more person ask me if I've met the bride, I may cause violence," Aidan sighed, sinking into one of the more comfortable chairs.

"Fair enough. I stand warned," Elliot grinned, handing his life long friend a glass of brandy. "Speaking of which, where is Shiara?"

"If memory serves, she's due to be shoved inside of that dress right about now."

"Heaven help her."

**~x~**

"I _really_ didn't mean for this to become so out of control."

The ladies in the room laughed at the somewhat overwrought expression on the bride's face as her mother worked the laces that held together the back of her dress.

"It's not your fault, Shiara, I promise," Winter offered, sorting out the wedding party jewelry. "It's mine and your mother's."

"If you wanted a fancy wedding, you should have had your own!"

"We didn't want them though," Maureen argued laughing. "We have enough insanity in our lives as it is, do you think we'd want _this_ nonsense."

"Then how is it your fault?" the bride asked, looking over her shoulder with a frown.

"It's actually your father's fault," Winter laughed. "The Queen always did like him a lot."

"She's only three years older than he is, after all," Maureen agreed.

"And he has always tried to be pretty damn amusing at those stupid Royal functions they dragged us to when we were younger. The four of us would all huddle together and poke fun of their late Majesties."

"And then all of us refused to have a big fancy wedding…," Maureen continued.

"So, here you go. Royal edict. Fancy do."

Shiara sighed, turning to look at her reflection in the mirror, still mildly glad that she _could_ despite knowing that she would before hand anyway.

"Can I hit Da then?"

"I always do," her mother and aunt agreed in unison bringing laughter to the room once more.

**~x~**

Aidan shuddered suddenly.

"What?"

"I have the feeling that a mass amount of estrogen just wished me harm just now."

"…That happens daily."

"You'll protect me won't you, Sir Elliot?"

"I'll do what is right and proper."

"Which is?"

"Shove you in their path while I make a quick get away."

"…Fair enough."

**~x~**

"I'm going to go save your bride from her mother and bring her some food. I'll be back in a little while."  
Michael smiled at his mother gratefully. "Go ahead and stay with her if she looks like she needs moral support. Despite what they kept saying, I think Aunt Maureen and Winter are a little _too_ excited about all this."

Seras laughed. "Without doubt."

Pausing briefly to steal a kiss from Alucard, she sauntered out of the room. Her retreating form showed off the red formal gown to enough advantage that his eyes followed her appreciatively until she disappeared from sight. He turned his eyes away to find his son grinning at him in the same superior way he had learned from his father.

"You know, secretly, I think Mum is right there with the others. She probably wanted a big wedding when she was young, too."

Alucard raised one eyebrow before shrugging slightly and shifting his weight in the chair he was finding it impossible to get comfortable in.

"Are you suggesting that I cheapen my relationship with your mother by putting on a sham wedding?"

His son frowned. "Is that what you think I'm doing with Shiara?"

"Not really, no. Your bride is young, as are you. Your relationship is young and you were both raised in such a way that this would be considered normal. If she desires all these idiotic proceedings, then you are being considerate to indulge her."

"But you think that it's foolish still."

He shrugged again. "My son, in my long years I have found that few things are more ridiculous and without meaning than an officiated wedding. It holds no sanctity and has not since the days when kings began to barter off their children for political ties and violated their own vows to have some satisfaction on the side."

Michael sighed. "So you that would be a yes."

Alucard's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do not give into self pity because I have an opinion in opposition to your wishes, Michael. It is a weakness."

"Forgive me, Father, if I would like your approval."

"And you have it," he sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "Just because I think it is foolish does not mean I do not understand the desire for an official marriage. Especially from a woman's perspective."

"But," Michael argued, grin beginning to reemerge, "you wouldn't go through it yourself."

"To marry your mother now would be the same as to say that all the years we have spent unmarried were but a farce and without value. It is an insult to her. If for some reason, there is an absolute requirement for it in the years distant from now, I might reconsider."

Michael laughed, bringing a small smile to his father's lips. Whatever else, he _was_ his son. He was proud of the boy and his achievements, not in the least which included a fine bride of rare ability. His good humor, however, drained away into exasperation at his son's next words.

"You just don't want to have to admit to everyone that you love Mum."

**~x~**

"As the Maid of Honor, shouldn't you be back there helping the bride dress?"

Hope looked over her shoulder at the sudden voice and grinned. Rushing over to embrace the newly arrived couple.

"Aunt Sakura and Uncle Ethan! When did you get here?"

"Just now," Ethan replied, giving her a quick hug. "It was a long flight."

"I imagine. Where are Takashi and Tomoyo?"

"We dropped them off backstage, so to speak, so they could get suited up for their all important ring bearer and flower girl jobs," Sakura laughed. "He's been talking about cake non-stop. I think it's the only reason he agreed to do the job."

"Probably."

"You never answered, girlie," Ethan reminded Hope with a grin as the three of them walked towards the library.

"You honestly expect me to get in the middle of that mess of crazy women?" she laughed. "You don't know me very well, Uncle Ethan."

"You seem to like the pretty frou frouy dresses well enough."

She grinned, rapping a series of rhythmed knocks on the library door. "Just because I like pretty dresses does _not_ mean that I want to be in a room with my mother, my aunts and probably the _Queen_ at this point as they doll up Shiara. No thank you."

The door opened a crack and Elliot peered out, opening it wider when he spotted the prodigal couple.

"Ethan! Sakura! Come on in and have a drink."

"Alcohol helps ward off the madness," Aidan agreed.

"I'm sure this idiot will join you," Sakura laughed. "Myself, I'm going to see if I can join in torturing the bride."

"Suit yourself," Ethan shrugged, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before ducking into the library turned sanctuary.

The two women shook their head and laughed as they turned to walk towards where they were sequestering the stars of the day.

"Have they been hiding in there all day?"

"Well, Dad said that he was trying to finish up some accounting and such since we were basically out of commission as far as missions went for the next few days. Setting up some emergency procedures and stuff."

"Sounds reasonable enough," the older woman agreed with a grin. "What is Aidan's excuse?"

"He told me that he was trying to save the guest list. And, you know, I think he's calculating enough to be able to do it and make it look like an accident."

"Probably. He doesn't usually mind the fuss, though. What's the big deal?"

Hope laughed. "It's all the people that were invited because they had to be or give insult or whatever proper protocol says. Most of them don't even know who we really are. They just care that the Queen was going. A lot of them just wanted to see the inside of this place, too."

"The stuff of legends," Sakura gasped mockingly.

"So, as much as Uncle Aidan can tolerate a lot of stupidity, I think even he has his limit when it comes to making his little girl's wedding into a farce."

"And what are your thoughts on all of this," the older woman asked as they came to a room that was bursting with feminine laughter.

"I've decided to elope."

Sakura burst into laughter and hugged the younger girl. "Anyone in mind or are you just going to shock us all?"

The humor suddenly dimmed in the blonde's blue eyes and she shook her head. "No, not just yet."

"Oh, Hope, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I know you fancied him a bit."

"Was it like a news broadcast?" she muttered incredulously.

"Well, you didn't exactly do a good job hiding it, dear."

"It doesn't matter," Hope dismissed with a sigh. "It wasn't anything serious. And I'm really happy for them. They deserve to be happy with each other for…well, forever."

Sakura put her hands on the daughter of her long time friends and smiled comfortingly.

"If it gets too tough, you come find me, okay? You don't have to pretend it doesn't hurt."

Smiling gratefully, Hope nodded. "Thank you, Aunt Sakura."

"You are very welcome. Now, into the fray!"

"It certainly is," Hope agreed, chuckling as the door opened to reveal layered chaos within.

**~x~**

"I'm nervous."

"I'm afraid," Seras chuckled, handing her a cup of warmed blood mixed with a shot of liquor, "that you are a bit far gone to be nervous, dearest."

The younger woman laughed nervously, fingering the fine silks of her dress before taking the cup. "It's not the getting married part that has me nervous, Seras. It's the bit where I'm getting married in front of half of the Royal Court and the Queen."  
"I'm afraid it's a bit late for that, too."

Shiara nodded, sipping at the liquid, taking in the strength and comfort it offered. The two sat alone for the moment, the rest of the women having gone off to finish the last minute necessities. It was a nice sort of quiet, luxurious in its temporary condition.

"Do you know why I wanted to get married, Seras?" she asked after a moment, voice not far above a whisper.

"I could probably guess," the blonde smiled, "but I have a feeling that you need to say it."

The younger woman grinned gratefully before letting the smile slip into something more serious.

"One day Mam and Da are going to die."

"Yes."

"And one day, Hope will die, too."

"…Yes."

Shiara looked at her companion with tears in her eyes. "One day everyone that I can honestly call family will be dead and gone."

"Your family will continue. Hope will have children. In them, all of your family will live on," Seras offered sadly.

"You know what I mean, Seras."

"Yes, Shiara, I do."

"When all of them are gone, will you be my Mam?"

Seras took a deep breath before standing up and moving to kneel in front of the beautiful woman in all of her bridal formality.

"Shiara, no matter how old you get or how much you might change, Maureen will always, _always_, be your mother," she told her, eyes leading and face somewhat stern, like a teacher instructing a child. "You shouldn't be looking to replace her."

"I'm not. Really, I'm not but…." Shiara trailed off, throat tight.

"However, no matter how old you get or how much you may change, whenever you need a mother, I will _always_ be there for you." Seras smiled, rising with miraculous grace to her feet once more. "You didn't need to legally marry into my family for that to be so."

Shiara grinned, wiping the tears from her eyes carefully before getting to her feet as well and hugging the blonde woman fiercely.

"Thank you."

"I should thank _you_," she chuckled. "My son inherited more than enough of his father's irritating personality. You are helping to distract him. One is more than enough for my daily life, thank you."

Watery laughter sounded quietly in the room as the bride pulled away from her future mother-in-law. "Alucard is _definitely_ a bit hard to handle sometimes. I'm surprised you put up with him."

Seras shrugged.

"I love him."

"And I love Michael.

"There you go."

The redhead nodded, picking up her skirts to walk out of the room before pausing.

"You know, legally, I'll be your daughter but I'll still look older than you. Think people will believe it?"

"Sure," Seras grinned mischievously. "We can just tell them I moisturize."

**~x~**

"We are gathered here today…."

"Uh, why is Captain Douglas saying the ceremony?"

"They said something about fond memories."

"But…weren't they _terrified_ of him as children."

"Well, then, maybe they decided that since they couldn't use a priest they should use the next scariest person they knew."

"He is a mean old bastard…."

**~x~**

The two vampire parents watched with amused smiles as the newly weds processed (fled) down the aisle and towards the manor, guests following close behind. The night had been perfect and the moon full casting a beautiful glow on the outdoor ceremony. Shortly, there would be (another) round of pictures taken and the couple would have their one permissible slice of cake (lest they get sick) and dance their first dance before the highest echelon of the country.

But that would be in a few minutes time and there was time enough to get where they needed to go. For the moment, they could watch the spectacle that had been their child's wedding. Neither could honestly say that they had ever pictured such a scene in all their long lives. Somehow they had been transformed from an orphan cop and the monster locked in the basement into a couple whose prestige in the Royal Court was higher than most landed lords.

Life was beautifully ironic that way.

Alucard looked down at his 'bride' with an expression that was almost…hesitant. She truly was beautiful. When he had first found her, she was pretty enough but still a child with a child's visage. Yet, there she stood, no different physically from that fateful night so long before , and was truly stunning. The little one had insisted on taking his draculina to the hair dresser for a fanciful style and his new daughter had requested a personal trip with just the two of them to pick out the magnificent dress she had been laced into.

He would have fun with those laces later….

She was truly as magnificent as he had predicted to himself close to two centuries before. And he…was still the same psychopath. If he was honest with himself, which he usually tried to be, he knew that she was probably better off without him. She was a good woman, still pure and innocent in ways her long life should not allow while he had been called monster when he was still alive and was tainted with the stain of all his sins.

"Did you want this, my draculina?"

"Mm? Oh, I don't know," she shrugged a little. "I never thought I would get married, honestly."

"Oh?" he murmured curiously as he took her arm to lead her into the house.

She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully before looking at him mischievously through her lashes. "I never thought I could force myself to get along with a man long enough to have him fall in love with me. I was a bit too violent for most boys."

He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it with a grin. "A beautiful and truly fine trait."

"I'm glad you approve, Master."

Grinning madly, he placed her hand back on his arm and continued their journey to the house. A few moments passed before he spoke again, as hesitant a voice as he could ever allow.

"So, you never regret not having married?"

She stopped, forcing him to stop as well. When he paused, she turned to face him, raising up on tiptoe as she placed a hand on his cheek.

"Master, I am not a foolish child who must have things spelled out to me. Not anymore. I don't need a stupid ceremony to tell me what you have shown me everyday for most of my life. I don't need words to know what you have demonstrated time after time."

He grinned widely before capturing her lips in a searing kiss. Far too conscious of where they were and what was still to be done, they did not allow the embrace to last more than a few seconds before pulling away. Tucking her hand one last time into his arm, he led her on, smirk firmly in place.

"I knew you would be a magnificently clever draculina."

**~x~**

"Do you miss all this?"

Sakura looked up at her husband in confusion as they danced in elegant circles around the bustling ballroom.

"Miss Hellsing you mean?"

"Yeah."

"A little. Do you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sometimes I do. Not that I would ever regret the decision to go live with you and live the life that we have lived, but…this is still somehow…home."

"I know what you mean," she nodded with a sad smile. "Despite all the violence and bloodshed, I was really happy here."

"Are you getting at something, then, Sakura?"

She grinned and he twirled her around faster for a moment until her laughter slowed them down.

"Well," she giggled, "you know, we could always make an extended trip over here. More than just a week or two."

"You mean like live here for a few months?"

She nodded, glad to take his arm and leave the chaotic floor for the chance at something cooling to drink.

"Otousama could hardly argue. You've all but mastered every style he has thrown at you. And things are quiet." Her eyes looked over to where their children were talking to the bride and groom excitedly. "And I think the kids would benefit from it."

He thought about it for a moment, gaze looking unseeing into the crowd, before shrugging. "I don't see why not."

"Yay!"

Her squeal of excitement echoed through the ballroom, drawing attention from almost everyone and he couldn't help but laugh as she clung to him happily.

"You know, Sakura, you could have just told me what we were going to do and I would have said yes." He stroked a stray hair behind her ear. "I told you before that I'll follow you wherever you want to go. Forever."

Blushing, her gaze turned soft and she gave him a quick kiss.

"I'd still rather you walk beside me."

**~x~**

"Miss Hope, would you favor me with a dance?"

Starting slightly, she turned to the friendly voice with a smile.

"Only if you stop calling me 'miss' every five seconds, Nathanial."

"Deal," the fair-haired man chuckled. A few years older than herself, he was a familiar sight on the base, stopping by frequently to say hello to the future leader of the Institute.

"Your grandfather did an excellent job with the ceremony, by the way."

He nodded, leading them out onto the dance floor. "He was very honored to be asked. He's getting a bit on so it was something of a last hurrah for him."

"He's always been mad fun," she grinned. "But, then, I'm sure you knew that."

"On the family estate, he would take my brother's and I out to wage war on each other and the woods. We built forts and learned all sorts of tricks that our mother could only shake her head at."

Hope laughed, finally relaxing for the first time in that entirely too long day.

"That's better," he chuckled, grey eyes softening a touch as he looked down at her.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been so tense all day, Hope. I know you are trying to not let all this bother you, but you aren't very good at pretending."

"Honestly," she sighed in exasperation, "I was _not_ as hooked on Michael as everyone seems to think I was. He was a bit of a ponce to be honest. Too much like his father in too many ways."

Grinning, he dipped her a little in the dance, throwing her off balance as he winked at her. "While I know you are just trying to make me jealous, Hope Hellsing, that was not what I was talking about."

Her cheeks turned a fiery red and she had to look away for a moment before locking questioning gazes with him again.

"Then, Nathanial Douglas, what _were_ you talking about?"

"I meant, for all intents and purposes you just watched both your brother and sister get married, especially the sister part. No matter who they are marrying, when you are as close to them as you are with those two, it is more than a little hard to watch."

Her smile faltered for a moment before she pinned it back on, a bit more sad than it had been.

"Yeah. I know it's a bit foolish but…yeah. But, don't worry. I'll get over it pretty quickly." She smiled a little more genuinely. "Especially since they aren't moving out or anything."

"I'm sure you will. You have always been a strong and bossy person."

"Just because you could never win against us when it came to forts and battles doesn't mean you should call me bossy," she laughed.

"Those were fun times. It made me look forward to school holidays even more."

"Even though you didn't start until we were all a little to old to be acting like that," she pointed out cheerfully as he led her off the polished floor as the dance ended. "Which is too bad, you might have been a better distraction when I was younger."

"I'll let you in on a secret then," he promised, kissing her hand.

"Oh?"

Stepping up close, he whispered into her ear, "You were what I looked forward to the most."

Her jaw dropped as he winked and made his way off to join his fellow enlisted men on the other side of the room. Then, slowly, a smile crept up on her face, giving new light to her fair features.

**~x~**

"Well, Shiara my dearest, was it everything you hoped it would be?"

"Michael, my heart, it was."

"I have to say, despite all the chaos and far more fuss than was really necessary, it was good to see everyone again."

"It really was."

"And…"

"And?"

"It was nice to be able to tell the entire world how much I love you."

"…And that…I think you got from your mother."

"Indeed."

"Well, husband?"

"Well, wife."

"Shall we go off into the night to live the life fantastic?"

"Only forever."

* * *

AN: See? I got to everyone! Excepting, I will admit, Winter/Elliot and Aidan/Maureen. The former will have something of a spotlight on friday and Aidan/Maureen may just be kinda done for the moment. They ran off to have fun without leaving any plot bunnies.

Hope will have a dedicated chapter tomorrow, after a few requests for it.

It is SO very weird to be almost done with this. It has been an uber challenge and I can only thank you all for being so awesome about reading and reviewing. Daily updates is a lot to keep up with so it means a lot to me. ^_^

Til next time!


	33. ‘stop being a pansy’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To Metropolis Kid, whose suggestion created Nathanial.

Note: I abandoned all responsibility to this chapter in preference to reading another story and letting some of my brain cells regrow. not certain it worked.

* * *

'**stop being a pansy'**

The idea of romance made her nervous.

If she thought about it logically (which she was forced to), she could lay the anxiety at the feet of the many varied and more than a touch chaotic couples that surrounded her. From relationships that you had to question what kept them together really (Alucard and Seras) to the ones that seemed based on tormenting each other (Aidan and Maureen, Shiara and Michael), the idea of falling in love left her somewhat mystified. Even her own parents were a bit odd to look at objectively. Most of the time they acted more like siblings or business partners than lovers. It was only when you caught them in a moment of passion (which taught her to knock) that you saw the romance.

The most normal couple of everyone she really knew as Sakura's marriage to Ethan. But then…to her they were so normal it was almost weird.

So perhaps logical thought was not the best way to go since it led her nowhere.

Rational thought wasn't much better since rationally, love was stupid and led to idiotic things like wars and watching really sappy movies. Rational thought didn't leave much room for emotion at all so she acknowledged that it was not the proper way to sort out her less than clear thought processes on why the idea of taking a lover was…distasteful.

"It all seems so messy."

"Only if you are doing it right," Shiara grinned, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I meant the emotional aspects, idiot," Hope muttered, ignoring the blush that had come unasked for to her cheeks. "I mean, look at your parents. They tormented each other for _years_ before they finally decided to just give in and get married."

"My mother was a bit of a pansy," the redhead argued, dipping a brush into the bottle of nail polish before moving onto another figure. "I would not suggest using her as guidance in _anyone_'_s_ love life."

"Oh and who _should_ I use, Shiara? You and 'Chael, who kept your lover status a secret for a year while you plotted behind everyone's backs?"

"Well, technically we weren't lovers until _after_ the whole vampire thing. They are somewhat mutually exclusive and all."

"I didn't realize you were such a pervert, Sis," Hope grimaced, rolling her eyes even as she couldn't help but let a grin come to the surface.

"You never really are until after you take the plunge. Then _everything_ reminds you of sex," the older girl chuckled. "It's mad fun."

"_Any_way, you two are no better in your love life. Nor are _his_ parents, as much as I love Aunt Seras. _That_ is a relationship that I'm not sure I could _ever_ figure out."

"It would probably do you better to not try," Shiara laughed, finishing up Hope's right hand and blowing on the paint for a moment before moving to the next. "I'm a vampire now and I sure as hell don't get it. Though, I'm sure if you asked Seras to explain it, she would be more than happy to."

"Maybe," the younger girl shrugged. "If nothing else, it would be an interesting story, I'm sure."

"Probably," the older girl agreed. "And you are still looking in the wrong direction for love guidance, Lil Sis. If you want something close to normal, look at your own parents."

"My parents?" Hope frowned. "But they are hardly romantic at all."

"Classic childhood friend scenario. They've known each other all their lives so they will always be friends first."

"That the same for you and 'Chael then?"

Shiara shook her head. "Nope. We weren't exactly raised as equals so it doesn't fit the scenario right."

"What about Aunt Sakura and Uncle Ethan?"

"College sweethearts," the redhead grinned.

"…Do you have a scenario for everyone?"

"Mam and Da fall into the 'neighboring kingdom' scenario."

Hope stared, face incredulous, before bursting into laughter. "Okay, explain."

"Two families, very separate from each other, with the two meeting to attend the same event on a regular basis –"

"Just saying they went to the same school would be easier."

"But it would ruin the analogy."

"Fair enough. Continue."

" – until they day they came of age and were able to choose each other. After trials, tribulations and Mam's overall wishy-washy behavior, they end up happily ever after, ensconced in his kingdom to help him rule in peace."

"Don't tell Dad about it being Uncle Aidan's kingdom," Hope laughed.

"Bah. We both know Uncle Elliot runs it only because he has to. Anyway, you should worry less about the love life around you and about yourself."

The younger girl sighed, pulling her finished hand away from Shiara's grasp and falling back into the giving mattress of the large bed.

"It's hard to have a love life when everyone is watching you, waiting for it to happen."

The redhead shrugged. "Okay, you don't like being watched. Most people don't go for that."

Hope threw a pillow at her, laughing in spite of herself.

"Also, hard to have a love life when there isn't anyone to fall in love with."

Shiara grinned, depositing the pillow and thankfully closed bottle of nail polish on the floor before crawling up to lay parallel to the other girl.

"You know, Lil Sis, I don't think that is it at all," she began suggestively.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you don't want to fall in love. I think you are scared of it because it makes you happy."

"And why would I want to avoid being happy?" Hope asked in exasperation. "I'm not a masochist."

"No, but being happy would require you to relax and you find that hard. And being in love would require you to trust someone aside of those of us you were raised with."  
"You're mental."

"I think that you are afraid to get into a relationship because you are afraid of it going wrong. You want to avoid love because if it gets messy it might disorder that lovely mind of yours. It might affect your responsibilities and your priorities and whatever else, you are very serious to those."

"And why," Hope sighed, "do you think all of this, Shiara? What evidence do you have that it's not just about the fact that the only boy I know remotely my age is Michael and he's married. To you."

"Because," Shiara chuckled darkly, "I know that he _isn't_ the only boy. And he _isn't _the boy I saw you dancing with with a grin on your face at my wedding."

Cheeks flaming, Hope stuttered, "T-that doesn't count. I don't even _know_ him."

"But you want to, don't you?"

**~x~**

Shiara was right. She took her responsibilities very seriously.

From the first, she had known that she was Hellsing and, unlike her father had been at that age, she didn't mind. She had a fairly unique perspective for someone in her line of work. Unlike all previous generations that had gone into the idea of running an institute devoted to vampire hunting, she realized that they were not all monsters. In the day in age that they lived in, more and more vampires would be trying to eke out a normal life style similar to the humans that surrounded them.

She wasn't particularly interested in hunting them down. Waste of resources.

Her worries were for the psychopaths and homicidal maniacs who took pleasure in chaos and strife, murder and rape, and whose new vampiric powers gave them the ability to indulge in these tendencies to a grand scale. It was her duty to see them stopped. Permanently.

When she was eighteen, she started going out with her father and mother on missions. At nineteen, she started leading them. By then, the soldiers were more than loyal to her. She took after her mother when it came to fighting skills and everyone knew that, while she most certainly didn't give off an aura of violence, she could wipe the floor with all of them. They took her seriously and obeyed her orders without back talk.

Well, most of them.

**~x~**

"I think it's about time you start sparring with me, Miss Hope."

"You know I can _kill_ you, right?"

"Probably."

"Then why do you keep insisting on calling me 'miss' when I keep telling you not to?"

"Because it gets your attention."

"…Nathanial?"  
"Yes, Miss Hope?"

"Go kill vampires."

"Yes, ma'am."

**~x~**

After the wedding, he mysteriously began appearing in every squad she led out on missions. At first, it had been nice to see a slightly more familiar face. He gave her ready smiles and helped her through some of the nervousness she always had at the beginning of a mission.

And then he'd gotten cheeky.

His jokes began to be the talk of the Institute and she heard from her sources (Alucard) that several of the soldiers were making bets on how quickly he could put her to the blush during a mission. It all in good fun, she knew, and might have even found it amusing if not for the way his smile and the twinkle in his eye would make her stomach flutter. Each time he gave her that look, she had to remind herself that relationships, especially the sort that meant dipping into the employment pool, were messy and to be avoided.

Even if he had the sweetest smile.

**~x~**

"You know, Lil Sis, I can give you an excellent way to shut him up really fast."

"Oh?"

"Kiss him."

"You know, nice as that might sound, I think I'd prefer to kick his ass."

"You, my dearest, have _severe_ issues."

"That is between me and my issues."

**~x~**

When her twentieth birthday came around, her parents threw her a considerably sized birthday party that had more to do with releasing tension from the sudden increase in vampire chaos than celebrating her birthday. Invitations went out to all the enlisted soldiers in wording that was more of an order and so, before long, the ball room was full with laughter and chaos as the group came up with new entertainments. Elliot and Winter declared that no game was too childish and the group entirely composed of supposedly mature adults began to revel in the party games of their youth with abandon.

By midnight, the birthday girl was tipsy on champagne and joy and was more than happy to follow Shiara out onto the terrace to claim a mystery birthday present. Which, had she been in her complete mind, she would have seen it for the tease that it was but, happily enough, she was more than happy to 'wait right there' under the beautiful light of the moon and stars.

And it was there, well met by moonlight, that he snuck up on her, rose in hand and smile on his face. She opened her mouth to remark on the non-coincidence of his arrival but he placed a finger on her lips, and tucked the rose into the intricate knot of her hair. Once finished, he took her hand and began to dance to the soft strains of the music that filtered from the ballroom doors.

Caught up in the dance and the way his grey eyes seemed silver, she relaxed into his arms. He pressed her closer than he might have otherwise and smiled softer than he would have in front of others. She returned the smile and for those few minutes, they were just two people in love with the dance.

And then the music ended and she pulled away. He let her go, bowing over her hand with a secretive smirk. She frowned at him but said nothing, unsure what _could_ be said in such a moment, before turning away to look out over the short stone wall. It was then that he struck, using her inattention to place a kiss on the curve of her neck. Before she could so much as turn around, he was fleeing into the ballroom once more, giving her only a wink in response to her fierce glare.

Romance…was dangerous.

**~x~**

"Finally, you consent to spar with me. Will this be a daily thing?"

"Only if you want to be beaten regularly."

"I like a woman that dominates."

"You really appear to."

"Besides, how can I be worthy of you if I cannot fight as well as you?"

"…Just shut up and get ready to fight."

**~x~**

He started coming by almost everyday, to spar, to say hi, to drive her insane. More often than not, he stopped by with present in hand. Sometimes it would be flowers, other times candy or random things he had found in the weird places he seemed to disappear to. When he went off for spells to Scotland or other places his parents asked him to travel to, he would come back with a variety of special weapons presented with large bows and a grin.

At first she accepted the presents with tolerance, then annoyance. Then, somewhere along the way, she began to look forward to them with humor and then delight. She found herself wondering, while he was away, what he would bring back with him. And then, after the third or fourth such trip, she began to realize that her thoughts were less on what he might bring and more on the lack of his smile and the gleam in his eye that would shine brightest when he had put her to the blush.

She began to realize that he was doing more to her than she really ought to let him do. And she realized, she didn't want to stop it.

And that…that rather frightened her.

**~x~**

"I'm not entirely sure if it is the 'errant knight' or the 'wooing poet'."

"Where do you get these ridiculous scenarios from?"

"My Da."

"You really, _really_, should start spending more time with Alucard then."

"He says worse things."

"Since when did my love life become the joke of the Institute?"

"When the rest of us got bored with our own?"

"Shiara!"

"Or…when you tried to convince everyone that you didn't think he was handsome and charming?"

"I don't think I ever did that. It is patently obvious that he is both. Which, honestly, is why he is so dangerous."

"Which is why its funny."

"How is that funny? Are you laughing at my pain for trying to maintain a straight head on my shoulders and give my full dedication to my role in life?"

"No, I'm laughing at the fact that you think he hasn't already succeeded."

"…"

"Or maybe 'tireless assault.'"

"Shiara…I don't…I…."

"Do you know you look like lovers when you fight? So passionate. And the look on your face…."

"I hate you _so_ much."

**~x~**

More than a year after they had started their regular training sessions, he shocked her completely. He beat her. Weapons knocked from her hand and expert holds on her wrists, he knocked her to the ground, pinning to her to the floor with a wide grin on his face. She could only blink up at him, eyes wide and mouth agape as they stared at each other, panting heavily.

"You've been practicing behind my back."

"I told you. I had to catch up," he grinned unashamedly.

"Confident that you have?" she breathed, shifting slightly in his grip.

"Well, to be fair, you were not fighting at your best." His eyes began to practically glow, the twinkle shining in them was so bright. "Perhaps I was distracting you."

"Maybe," she allowed, blush giving further color to her cheeks. "So now what? Am I supposed to give you a prize for good work?"

"Maybe," he laughed softly. "Maybe we'll forgo you giving it and in the meantime I'll just take."

Without another word, he ducked his head down and sealed her lips with a kiss.

**~x~**

When she was twenty-two years old, Hope Alexandria Hellsing, heir to the Hellsing Institute, stopped running from love.

And enjoyed every second of her defeat.

* * *

AN: So...brain cells fried but with a very, very basic idea, I just sat down to write...and this appeared. Hope you found it entertaining. It was fairly enjoyable to write if somewhat mental. Fluff! And why does FF.N hate italics so much? Seriously.

Originally, Hope was going to be left unattached. Much like Integra, I figured her love life was her own, which, in the end, makes it ironic that it became a joke. Ah well...we tend to make fun of our leaders.

I vaguely remember that while writing this I had other comments to make but they are gone now. ^_^

And tomorrow is the end! I already have the chapter planned out so, I'm sorry to everyone who had something in mind that I didn't get to. I'll be honest enough to admit that it'll be awhile before I revisit this (if I ever do) as it has more or less completed itself in my mind.

It's been mad fun.

Til next time.


	34. ‘please take my hand’

Disclaimer: I do not own _Hellsing_ nor do I own Alucard, Seras Victoria or the Hellsing Institute. I _do_ own Aidan and Winter and all their friends so please, no poaching okay?

Dedication: To everyone who liked Life Sentence and its world enough that this was possible. Thank you for your kind words and support. You rock.

Note: See below. I just don't shut up...

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'**please take my hand'**

The machine beeped in a regular pattern that both shattered the silence and atmosphere at every moment and gave calming hope and reassurance. Rain beat against the window, as it so often did, and murmurs bled through the closed door that closed the room off from the busy hallway beyond. It was a symphony of sounds that made the scene all too real and yet apart from reality as a whole.

The cheapened sound of florescent lighting buzzed above their heads, more imaginary than real, as the two figures watched the third, asleep on the bed. It was cold and the dark haired woman sat beside the bed, clutching the man's hand with one of her own while the other pulled her sweater a little further closed. All the clothing in the world wouldn't matter though. She as cold inside and afraid, afraid for the first time in so many years. Afraid, perhaps, for the first time in such a way.

She'd never had time to fear before. They had always died so quickly and without warning. For the first time, she could truly find herself understanding why her friend had held out so long. The pain of waiting, uncertain, was more than plain loss. Far more.

"He'll be fine."

The woman jumped slightly, as if having forgotten the presence of the other, and looked over her shoulder with a bitter smile.

"So you keep saying. I think I'll wait til he wakes up to breathe a sigh of relief though, no offense."

"None taken."

The woman looked back at the man in the bed. Despite all the years that had gone by, he still looked so young in her eyes. Too young to be lying there like that. His hair was still almost entirely blonde and his skin held so few wrinkles. He was still so _alive_. If it weren't for the damnable machines that insisted on beeping around her and the strange tubes that led from him to them, she could nearly make herself believe that he was just sleeping.

"How did this happen, Seras?"

The blonde woman sighed softly. The only answers she had were ones of truth and could not be comforting. Truth rarely is.

"Why him?" the brunette asked, softly. "Of everyone at that damnable Institute, why _him_?"

"He always knew that it might happen, Winter. He accepted the danger daily."

"But what danger?" the woman asked, looking down at his hand. "He had barely been out on a mission in years. Neither of us had. Stay behind and make strategic plans, do the research, train the men. We are both two old to be the ones out there now, not when…."

She trailed off and looked back to her companion, tears streaking down her face.

"Is it just rough justice? Karma? We stopped putting ourselves on the line each time and so took the inevitable cost for being ready to sacrifice others?"

The vampire stepped forward, leaning down to wipe a tear from her long time friend's face.

"Winter, none of this was ever meant to make sense. You are not being punished for being wise enough to see that you are not as young as you once were. Sometimes the worst things simply just _happen_ for no reason at all."

"I can't buy that, Seras," the woman argued. "I can't understand how on the _one_ time he went out on a mission in a _year_ he is nearly killed. Was it _my_ fault? Was I being arrogant to think that I could still do my job in a pinch?"

"You are still as deadly as you ever were, Trashman," the vampire chuckled sadly. "It is not your fault."

"Then whose is it?"

The blonde sighed, straightening to look down at her friend and then at her master.

"I could give you answers but they wouldn't satisfy you. But, perhaps , since you so desperately need a reason, I can give you one of those."

The woman frowned slightly. "What?"

"Maybe the reason for all this is a sign that you should step down."

"You mean…quit?" The woman frowned, the concept was so foreign.

"I mean retire." The vampire sighed and sat on the bed. "You two have been doing this for so long. You don't need to do this for the rest of your life."  
"But his father and his father before and even your Integra…they all did it until they died."

"What need is there for that anyone, Winter?"

The blonde looked at the woman with such sad eyes that she found herself listening despite the strangeness of the words being spoken

"All those people…they devoted their life to a life of killing and slaughtering and were all ready to die doing it. But…now…what need is there? The vampire threat has receded. How many vampires act out maliciously anymore? How many of them even need our attention?"

"But…it is what we've always done. What else would we _do_?"

"Let Hope take over. She is suited for it, for this new era in vampire hunting. She can assess what is needed and what isn't. She also knows that no matter how much you fight, the war will never end."

The woman sighed. "That is a depressing thought."

"How can you wage war when your enemy refuses to fight?" the vampire asked earnestly. "How can you kill an entire race of people that know how to hide themselves and do it by not causing mischief?"

She sighed, looking down at her husband. It was such a strange idea, to simply…stop. How long had it been since she had thought of anything but death? Had there ever been such a time? Had she really spent her entire life devoted to learning about something she would inevitably destroy?

"He always hated it, you know," she murmured quietly. "He hated the violence of it. Day after day he struggled with the urge to just throw it all away. A pacifist at heart."

"He's a good man."

The brunette looked up at her friend once more. "What'll _I_ do, Seras? All I have is violence. What do I do in a world that is clamoring for peace?"

"You do something you have yet to do in all these long years."

"Oh?"

"You live."

**~x~**

He was standing on the parapets of the White Tower, wind rushing around him in the way it did after night fall when the cold air rushed off of the river. It was a beautiful scene and familiar but not for many, many years. Glancing over, he found Seras standing beside him wearing her old uniform, hair unbound and whipping around her face.

"Are you real?"

"As real as you are."

"But this _is_ a dream right?"

"More or less."

"Then I'm _not_ dead."

She smiled and shook her head. "Not for many years."

"Good to know."

"You are, however, in a coma."

He sighed. "That would explain it. Been around you too long to suddenly be sharing dreams for no reason."

"Perhaps."

"Winter is going mental isn't she?"

She laughed, nodding. "A bit. But she's fine too. In the end only one person died and you were the only one this severely injured."

"That's a relief. Who was it who died?"

"Johnson."

Frowning, he thought over who that might be, his images foggy and blurred.

"I think I don't know who that is. I just can't quite…."

"Master, you are dreaming. Give your mind a rest. You can sort out the details later."

Chuckling he nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

For a moment, they stood in peace, looking out over London and the reflection of light over the Thames.

"What should I do, Seras?"

"You should rest."

"But," he sighed, trailing off for a moment. "I've been fighting for so long."

"Which is why you should rest."

"And put Hope in the same place that I've always hated? How could I do that to my child?"

"She has more of Winter in her than you, when it comes to that. More of Integra. She likes the challenge and sees the necessity in the fight."

"What would my father think of me, to just…give up?"

She turned and smiled at him. "He would think that you did your best in a life that you hated for three decades. He would think that you deserved a chance to be happy in your life."

He nodded quietly, looking away from her. "I didn't hate it, Seras. I just…."

"I know."

"Do you think that one day there will come a time when we won't be needed? When the Hellsing family can go on to far simpler things?"

"One day. For now, you are England's hope."

Once more, he nodded his assessment.

"You know, I always wanted to travel. Maybe its time."

"Maybe."

Grinning, he looked over at her, sparkling eyes and happiness making him look as young as he was when they first met.

"Retirement, huh? What do you think I should do first?"

Laughing, she pat his shoulder.

"First, you should wake up."

**~x~**

In the year of our lord 2183, Sir Elliot Walter O'Hara Hellsing and Lady Wynne Tera Shannon Hellsing did something that they had never given themselves the luxury to do in all their long lives. They took their own destines in hand. They turned away from the life they had always known and set off to live what remained of their lives as they saw fit.

**~x~**

In the year of our lord 2183, Hope Alexandria Shannon Hellsing was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen of England and officially took over the reigns of the Hellsing Institute along with her husband Nathanial Ryan Douglas Hellsing. They immediately began instituting a set of rules that allowed for the capture and deportation of non-homicidal vampire offenders to one of the Vampiric States of the World to cut back on loss of life for her own men. The measures were to good effect until the vampire uprising in 2197 which broke out into what was later dubbed Vampire World War.

Her quick intellect, wise council and insider information allowed the Hellsing Institute to nearly single handedly turn the tides to the human advantage. She is, in certain circles, attributed as the savior of England.

**~x~**

In the year of our lord 2216, Sir and Lady Hellsing die abroad. They are killed in a fight to protect a private school in America from a vampire attack. They leave behind one child and three grandchildren.

Before their death, they brought down fifteen vampires and ninety ghouls. Their names become legend in the retired community as 'how much old people can still kick ass'. The Queen of England declares a day of mourning for their funeral.

**~x~**

In the year of our lord 2222, Aidan Sean Fitzpatrick declares that ninety years of life is good enough for him and that the year couldn't be more analytically fitting and dies during a rescue of a church in Ireland. His strategically done battle takes over twenty vampires and an unnumbered amount of ghouls with him. His funeral mass is attended by nobility and business executives the world over as his inventions and popularity gave him international fame through the years.

His wife passed on a few months previous and family stated that they were waiting for 'Da to do something stupid'.

**~x~**

_In the year of our lord 2222, the Hellsing Institute continues on with its leader, her children and the vampires who swore an oath to serve her._

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AN: Had no idea that I had that many dates stuck in my head, huh?

This chapter is actually fairly different than I originally intended. Originally, Elliot was supposed to die . but then my beta looked heart broken when I suggested that someone was going to so...into the infirmary we go. Seras was also really not supposed to be the voice of...whatever that was either. She just kinda ended up feeling kinda bad for them though.

I will say in that special features directors commentary sort of way, they never stop actually going after vampires. It's in the blood.

Stats:

Number of original characters (who survived the story and had speaking roles): 12

This is a positively shameful number. I usually keep myself to...the bad guy. go figure.

Number of chapters (all three stories): 46

Total reviews (at time of posting): 370

Avg per chapter: 8

Which...honestly, I think that is the best I've seen for any of the fandoms I've written for. This has got to be the best group of people on FF.N. I have never seen more stories for one category get more regular reviews then this one. So, you people rock! Makes a writer feel worth while ^_^

Anywho...

I'm going to take at least a week off (I tell myself) before I post the story about invading Japan. I think it will be a three or four part story (so fairy short) under the name of Divinity Ending if you want to keep an eye out for it. After that, I have a _crossover _story planned for a sequel. It will take place far in the future so don't look to be seeing any of these characters. Sorry.

Thank you SO much for all the wonderful words. I hope this chapter left you with a completed feeling. (Especially as I have stories for other fandoms being neglected...)

It was fun! Happy Easter!

Til next time...

[EDIT: I've gone through and fixed the formatting for the chapters finally. yay! I will also say that since some people regretted that I did not write the end of this as an excerpt from Nikolai, I started work on something similar to that. I may or may not post it sometime soon. *shrug*]


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